Keep On Loving You
by greyfan314
Summary: Now that Addison and Derek are back together, how do they deal with caring for their growing family.  Addek, Mark/Izzie. Sequel to 'The Love that Keeps Us Together'.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**This is a sequel to 'The Love that Keeps Us Together'. I'd recommend reading it first but it's not necessary. I hope you enjoy! **

**Love That Keeps Us Together summery – Mark's daughters from New York come to live with him. Kaitlyn is 16 and was pretty much raised by Mark, Addison, and Derek all together. She starts hating Addie but ends up bringing the three friends back together. Lily is 5. You don't yet know much about her mother except that her mother was high with Amelia. Derek gets Addie pregnant, which brings them back together as a couple. They have a daughter, Grace. Mark and Izzie end up together. Izzie is pregnant. Derek and Addison get remarried at the end of the story. Derek's mother, Carolyn, and his sisters, Kathleen, Nancy, and Sarah, try to be involved in the big events of Derek and Addie's life. Derek's youngest sister, Amelia, shows up unexpectedly at their wedding after no one had seen her in four years. **

**This story takes place almost a year later. Kaitlyn is now 17, a senior in high school, and deciding what college to go to next year. She's still dating Will. Lily is six, a great big sister, and loves school. Grace is one and a half, walking and talking, and has curly red hair the color of Addison's. Derek and Addison are still madly in love. Izzie has moved in with Mark. **

Addison stared at her watch. These two minutes seemed like an eternity. Finally the time was up. She looked at the pregnancy test in her hand. Negative. She was disappointed yet again. She thought back to the moment she decided she wanted another baby.

"_Push Izzie. Just one more push and you can see your baby." Addison encouraged Izzie to keep pushing. She was getting tired. It had been a long labor but Izzie was so close. "Ready. One, two, three, push." Izzie tried her hardest. _

"_That's it Izzie. You're doing great." Mark said calmly holding her hand. _

"_It's a boy!" Addison announced placing the screaming baby on Izzie's chest. "Do you want to cut the cord?" Addison asked. _

"_Yeah." Mark said taking the scissors from Addison. Someone took the baby to get him cleaned up._

"_7 pounds, 2 ounces." The nurse announced. She brought the baby back and put him in Izzie's arms. _

"_He's beautiful Iz." Mark said rubbing his baby's head. _

"_He is." Izzie responded. Neither one could stop smiling. Derek came in. _

"_Congratulations!" Derek said. _

"_Thanks." Izzie replied._

"_Finally a boy for us to hang out with." Mark said to Derek. _

"_Good. There are way too many girls around." Derek said. _

"_Hey you better be careful what you say. You live with them." Addison warned him. _

"_I know. I live with four amazing girls." He said as he kissed her. _

"_Does he have a name?" Addison asked._

"_Not yet." Izzie said. _

"_We'll leave you alone for a little while. Just have me paged if you need me." Addison said as she left with Derek.  
><em>

"_I love him so much already." Izzie said admiring her baby.  
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"_I know. He's perfect." Mark responded.  
><em>

"_Want to hold him?" Izzie asked. _

"_Yeah." He took the baby from Izzie, loving the feeling of holding his child for the first time. "What are we going to name him?"_

"_What do want to name him?" Izzie asked him.  
><em>

"_Tell me some names you like." Mark said.  
><em>

"_Umm, Brandon, Joseph, Benjamin." Izzie listed. _

"_Not Benjamin. We can't name him Benjamin." Mark said quickly.  
><em>

"_Okay. Are you going to tell me why?" Izzie asked. _

"_How much did Addison tell you about New York and her and Derek?" Mark wanted to know.  
><em>

"_She told me about Elizabeth and she told me that she and Derek tried for a baby for a long time, but it never happened." Izzie said.  
><em>

"_This isn't really my business to tell, Addison doesn't like to talk about it, but she did get pregnant, once, in the middle of all of that trying. She carried a baby full term. He died a few hours after he was born. They named him Benjamin. Benjamin Joel Shepherd. Izzie, that was the hardest thing they ever had to go through. It just tore them apart. It tore all of us apart. You can't name him Benjamin. You can't do that to Addison." Mark told Izzie. _

"_I had no idea. That had to be so hard." Izzie said sadly.  
><em>

"_It was for them." Mark agreed.  
><em>

"_Do you want to name him after you?" Izzie offered.  
><em>

"_No Junior." Mark declined.  
><em>

"_How about Nathan?" Izzie asked.  
><em>

"_It's different. I like it." Mark said.  
><em>

"_Nathan Marcus Sloan?" She asked. _

"_Perfect." He confirmed. He kissed her. _

"_Hi Nathan. I'm your mommy." Mark gave her the baby back. _

_Later….Addison came in. _

"_How are you feeling?" Addison asked Izzie.  
><em>

"_Wonderful." Izzie said smiling. _

"_Only you, Iz." Addison examined her. "My turn." She took the baby. "He's beautiful. He looks just like Mark."  
><em>

"_I think he looks kind of like him." Izzie said.  
><em>

"_Oh he looks identical to Mark's baby picture." Addison told her.  
><em>

"_Really?" Izzie asked excited.  
><em>

"_Yeah." Addison said. _

"_You have that look." Izzie observed. _

"_What look?" Addison asked confused.  
><em>

"_The I want another baby now look." Izzie informed her.  
><em>

"_I miss when Grace was this little." Addison told Izzie. _

"_They grow up so fast." Izzie said.  
><em>

"_They do." Addison agreed. She gave the baby back. "Enjoy it while you can."_

"_We will." Izzie said. _

_Addison went home to Derek that night. They were laying in bed. _

"_Let's have another baby." Addison announced. Derek looked a little surprised. He sat on the bed._

"_Okay." He agreed with her.  
><em>

"_I know based on our track record, it may not happen and Grace isn't that old yet, but I really want a baby." Addison ranted.  
><em>

"_Honey, I said okay." Derek said stopping her.  
><em>

"_Really?" Addison was excited. Derek smiled. _

"_Yes, let's have a baby." He agreed.  
><em>

"_But we need to try to be relaxed about it. Let's not get stressed if it doesn't happen. Especially because I'm still breastfeeding." Addison said. _

"_Okay. Let's just casually try and if it happens it happens." Derek said. _

"_Are we going to casually try now?" Addison asked suggestively.  
><em>

"_Definitely." Derek confirmed smiling. "Add?"  
><em>

"_Yeah?" She said.  
><em>

"_This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that baby you held today?" He asked._

"_Maybe." She said. _

"_I thought so." Derek said.  
><em>

"_Well, I do want a baby and I know you do too so now's as good as ever." She told him. _

"_Now is perfect." _

Tears began to fall from Addison's eyes. She wanted another baby badly and getting there was stressful. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Getting pregnant with Grace was the only time she ended up with a baby in her arms and she wasn't even trying to get pregnant. Being older now was only going to make it harder. Derek came in behind her.

"How did it go?" He asked excited that she might be pregnant with his second child. Addison turned around and he saw that she was crying. Derek wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay. You'll get a baby when the time is perfect." He gently reassured her.

After hold onto his wife for a few minutes Derek let go. "I have to go to work now. Are you going to be alright?" He asked. She nodded. He kissed her.

"I love you." Addison said to him.

A little while later, Addison was playing with Grace in the living room when Izzie came in carrying the baby seat containing her screaming baby.

"I don't know what to do with him anymore. He screams all the time. And spits up all the time." Izzie said near tears. She put the baby down and sat on the couch. "I haven't slept in days."

"Has he eaten?" Addison asked picking the three month old baby up.

"Yes. He's been feed, changed, rocked. Everything I can think of." Izzie said.

"How did the doctor's appointment go?" Addison asked.

"Everything came back normal, which is frustrating because I know something's wrong." Izzie told her.

"We'll figure it out. You look exhausted. Lay down and take a nap. Grace and I will take care of Nathan for a little while." Addison said.

Izzie was so tired, she managed to stay asleep through the hour of screaming and the loud chatter coming from Lily and Kaitlyn when they got home from school. Addison ushered them into the playroom quickly. They took turns holding their little brother and played with Grace. Derek and Mark also snuck into the playroom past Izzie when they came home from work.

"Honey we're home." Mark said laughing. "Hey how'd you do that?" He asked referring to his sleeping child.

"Magic touch I guess." Addison replied handing the baby over.

"So you had a good day?" Derek asked kissing her.

"We did." Addison said.

"Even with Izzie melting down and my baby screaming?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I got my baby fix in for the day." Addison said smiling. Lily walked over to Mark.

"Daddy, Nathan is soo cute." Lily told him.

"He is, isn't he?" Mark said.

"Yeah, I got to hold him." Lily squealed.

"That's great." Mark said, wishing he had Lily with him all the time, and Kaitlyn, his whole family together. "Lily, do you want to spend the night we me tonight?" He asked.

"Yes, can I have a sleep over with Daddy tonight?" She asked Addison.

"Of course. You don't need to ask to be with Daddy." Addison answered.

"I'm going to go pack my stuff." Lily said as she ran out of the room.

"Is your wife having a sleepover at my house?" Addison asked him.

"No. I'm going to wake her up." Mark said but he didn't move.

"Are you afraid?" Derek asked laughing.

"A little." Mark responded.

"She's been asleep for four hours, she'll be in a good mood." Addison told them. They all walked into the living room and stood around Izzie until she opened her eyes.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Mark said to her.

"How long have I been asleep?" Izzie asked.

"Four hours." Addison said.

"Wow. Nathan?" Izzie said

"He's here. He's asleep." Mark said.

"We should go. He's going to be hungry any minute." Izzie said getting up.

"We have to wait for Lily. She's having a sleepover." Mark said.

"Oh good. I'm glad Addison can have a quiet night after helping me." Izzie said. She turned to Addison. "Thank you. Really. I needed it."

"Clearly." Addison said. Lily ran in the room with her bag.

"I'm ready!" Lily announced.

"Let's go." Mark said putting Nathan in his carseat.

"Have fun." Addison said. They all left and Derek shut the door behind them.

"It's just us. What do you say we try again for that baby?" He asked pulling her in for a hug.

"I'd say yes, but we still do have Kaitlyn and Grace. How about we feed them dinner and then try for that baby." Addison responded.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Derek said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad people are reading. **

Weeks went by and Izzie figured out how to get more sleep despite the constant crying. Izzie and Mark started to take Lily more often. They decided that they wanted to spend a lot of time with her. On evening, Mark came into Addison and Derek's house around nine with Lily. Lily was in a nightgown and her hair was wet and recently combed.

"Hi! Did you have fun?" Addison asked.

"Yes! We went on lots of rides. I went on a rollercoaster." Lily told her very excitedly.

"Wow." Addison said. 

"Sorry we're a little late. Izzie decided to give the kids a bath after their long day." Mark apologized.

"It's fine. She's your daughter. You're not late unless she has somewhere to be." Addison reassured him.

"Goodnight Sweetheart." Mark said hugging and kissing Lily.

"Nite, nite, daddy." She replied.

"Do you have to get right home?" Addison asked. 

"No. Izzie probably already fell asleep with the baby." Mark told her.

"Can we talk about something?" Addison wanted to know.

"Sure." Mark answered. 

"I'll put her to bed and come right back down." Addison returned and sat on the couch next to him. 

"What's up?" Mark asked. 

"You have made some major changes in your priorities and how you live your life. I think it's time you had Lily a little more. You need a chance to be her father." Addison said to him.

"Thanks Addison. It means a lot coming from you. You're very critical and it's a good thing." Mark responded. "I was actually going to talk to you soon about Lily coming to live with me. We're settled in our house. We have room for her. I'm ready to have my family together."

"I think that's an excellent idea. Maybe we can reverse the arrangement we have going on right now. Lily lives with you but spends the night with us occasionally. She's spent most of the last two years with me, I'm attached, I want some time with her still, but she's yours." Addison said.

"I never want to cut you out of her life. You're practically her mother. I want you to have time with her still." Mark said.

"Good, then it's settled. She's moving in with you." Addison said.

"Can I tell her?" Mark asked.

"Sure." Addison said. "Come back tomorrow? We'll talk to her together."

"Yup. Goodnight." Mark said as he left.

Addison made her way upstairs picking up the random pieces of laundry and toys along the way. She was a little bit sad that Lily wasn't going to be here every night anymore. She stopped in the doorway of Lily's room and watched her sleep for a minute. Derek came out into the hallway looking for her. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Mark wants Lily to live with him." Addison said.

"What did you say?" Derek asked.

"Yes. I think it's a good idea. Mark finally wants to be a real father to her. It's good for her." Addison stated her opinion.

"But…" Derek said.

"But I'm going to miss her." Addison finished his sentence.

"I have a feeling you'll still be seeing her all the time. You see Izzie all the time." Derek pointed out.

"I know. It will be good for Grace to get more of our undivided attention." Addison said comforting herself.

"What about Kaitlyn?" Derek asked.

"We didn't talk about her. She's seventeen. She's been moved around a lot. It's time she chose where she lives." Addison said.

"She'll stay here." Derek reassured Addison. "Let's go to bed."

Next evening…Mark and Izzie brought Nathan over after dinner to talk to Lily about moving in. Grace was most excited to see Izzie.

"Iz!" Grace squealed as she ran to Izzie with open arms. Izzie scooped her up.

"Hi Gracie." Izzie said to her.

"Baby." Grace said looking at Nathan.

"Are you going to play with Nathan?" Izzie asked her.

"Yes." Grace said.

"Where's Lily?" Mark asked.

"I'm sure she'll be running down the stairs any second when she hears you." Addison answered. "KAITLYN!" Lily came running down the stairs and Kaitlyn came in the room followed by Will.

"Daddy!" Lily greeted him excited.

"Hi Lil." Mark said hugging her the best he could while holding Nathan.

"Where's Derek?" Izzie asked.

"Working." Addison responded.

"Wasn't he there at like 6 this morning?" Mark asked.

"Yes. He's working on his clinical trial. Apparently it's going to be like this a lot once it gets going." She said.

"What did you want me for?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Can you take Grace and Nathan while we talk to Lily?" Addison asked her.

"Sure." Kaitlyn took Nathan from Mark and Will picked up Grace to go into the playroom. Addison, Mark, and Izzie sat down. Lily climbed into Mark's lap.

"Lily, Daddy has something he would like to ask you." Addison said to her.

"Would you like to live with me, Izzie, and Nathan?" Mark asked her.

"Yes!" Lily responded very excited. "I get to see you all the time?"

"You would. When I'm not in work. Izzie stays home with Nathan right now so you would see her when you are home from school." Mark explained to her.

"And Nathan?" Lily asked.

"And Nathan." Mark confirmed.

"Okay!" Lily said.

"Do you want to come today? We can help you pack up your stuff." Mark asked Lily.

"Wait. I would pack my stuff?" Lily asked. "What about Addie and Derek? I need my stuff. I live here."

"Sweetheart, you would live at Daddy's house. You can bring most of your stuff and leave a little here when you come to have fun sleepovers with me." Addison tried to help explain to her.

"I wouldn't see you?" Lily said starting to get upset.

"Not as much as you do now. But I promise I will still see you all of the time." Addison told her. Lily climbed off of Mark's lap to sit with Addison.

"I'll miss you." Lily said to her hugging her.

"How much do you see Daddy right now?" Addison asked Lily.

"Almost every day." Lily said.

"That's how much you'll see me. Daddy and I are switching places. You'll live with him and visit me just like right now you live with me and visit him. He needs you. Nathan needs a really good big sister just like you are to Gracie when you're here." Addison told her.

"Oh yeah. I can do that. I'm a good big sister. I'll take care of Daddy too." Lily said.

"Good. He really needs to be watched." Addison said. Izzie giggled.

"Should I go pack?" Lily asked.

"In a little while. We're going to eat dinner with Daddy and Izzie, then I'll help you pack." Addison explained.

At the same time, Will and Kaitlyn were taking care of the babies in the playroom.

"This is freaking me out a little bit." Will said.

"They're just my little siblings." Kaitlyn told him.

"I know but there is the possibility they could be ours." Will explained.

"Yes, but we're smart and know we don't want them right now." Kaitlyn said.

"I know." Will said. "Give me Nathan too and take a picture. I want to send it to my dad." 

"No he'll hate me." Kaitlyn said.

"No my mom would. My dad will make some funny comment." Will told her.

"Fine." Kaitlyn said placing Nathan in his arms. As Kaitlyn was taking the picture, Addison and Mark walked in.

"Oh god they're playing house." Mark said.

"This worries me a little bit." Addison told him.

"It was your idea." Mark accused.

"They watch Grace all the time. It's never looked so much like a family before." Addison said.

"I'm taking my kid back before they get ideas." Mark said as he entered the room.

Later…They put the last of Lily's things into Mark's car. Addison gave Lily a big hug.

"You can call me whenever you want." Addison told her.

"I'll miss you." Lily said.

"I'll miss you too." Addison replied. "Get in the car it's getting late."

"I don't want to leave you." Lily said.

"It's just like any other sleepover with Daddy." Addison explained.

"I guess." Lily said and she got into the car. "Bye."

"Bye." Addison said.

"Ready to go Lily?" Mark asked buckling her in.

"Yup." Lily said. "When we get home I want Nathan to help me unpack."

"Nathan is very little and it's his bedtime." Mark explained to her.

"Oh okay. Maybe tomorrow." Lily said. Mark shut the door.

"Thanks for making this easier for her." Mark said to Addison.

"You're welcome. It will be good for her I know." Addison said.

"Bye."

Next day….Addison was cleaning up Lily's room and crying. She missed having Lily around already. Derek came home from work and found her crying. He laughed.

"She's been gone for what 12 hours? You know you're going to see her all the time." Derek said.

"I know. It's not the same though." Addison tried to explain to him.

"Yeah, now Mark gets to battle about bedtime and pack her lunch every day." Derek said pointing out that some things may be easier now. Addison stormed into their room and Derek followed.

"Just leave me alone. I'm nauseous and tired." She said starting to cry. "I just need you to leave." Derek bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Okay, okay. Do you want something for the nausea?" He offered. 

"No. I don't feel well and I'm going to lie down for a while." Addison said as she sat on the bed. 

"You're clammy but not warm." Derek observed as he touched her forehead. 

"Take Grace to the park or something. I need some time." Addison ordered. 

"Okay. I'm leaving." He kissed her forehead. "You don't need to cry." 

"Go away." Addison demanded a little less nicely this time. He walked to the door but turned around.  
>"Add, you're moody, emotional, naseous, any chance you're pregnant?" Derek asked. Addison looked surprised. <p>

"I, I don't know. I had….No I didn't. I might be pregnant." She said smiling for the first time since Derek got home.

"I love you." He said clearly amused by his wife's mood swings. 

"I love you too." Addison responded. 

"I'm taking Grace out." He said. 

"No wait. I don't want you to go." Addison said walking towards him. Derek laughed. "I know, I know. Mood swing." She said as Derek went to kiss her.

"I'll go get you a pregnancy test." Derek offered. 

"Don't get too excited until we know for sure." Addison warned him. They've had a lot of false hope so far. 

"I'll be back." Derek said. Just as he was walking out of the room, Addison heard Grace awake. She went into Grace's room and saw her standing in her crib.

"Mama." Grace said when she saw Addison. 

"Did you sleep good baby?" She asked picking up Grace. 

"Outside?" Grace asked.

"I guess we could go out for a little while." Addison responded.

They were outside playing in the front yard when Derek pulled up in the car. 

"Dada." Grace said running over to him. 

"Are you having fun outside?" He asked picking her up. 

"Yes." Grace answered. Derek held up a bag.

"For you." He said to Addison. Addison went over to him and took the bag. 

"Thank you. Watch Grace." She went inside and came back five minutes later.

"So?" He asked.

"We're having a baby."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

Addison sat writing in charts. She'd only been at work for a few hours but it felt like forever. A nurse approached her.

"Dr. Shepherd, Mrs. Miller in room 14 is complaining of pain." The nurse said to Addison.

"I'll write an order for pain medication. Thanks for letting me know." Addison said. Izzie walked up behind her with Nathan. Nathan squealed making Addison turned around.

"Hi!" Addison said happy to see them. She took the baby from Izzie. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We had a follow up appointment for Nathan. Have you seen Mark around?" Izzie asked.

"Not for a while." Addison responded. "How did the appointment go?"

"They decided he has GERD and started him on reflux medicine." Izzie informed her.

"That's a start." Addison said.

"Yup. We also eliminated formula from his diet. It's breastmilk only." Izzie said.

"Why?" Addison asked.

"We kept a feeding journal for the doctors. The days when he only had breastmilk there was much less screaming and spitting up than when we supplemented with some formula. The one time I gave him only formula for a meal we almost didn't make it through the rest of the day there was so much screaming." Izzie told her.

"It's good you did that and looked at patterns." Addison said.

"Whatever helps, right?" Izzie replied. "I'm still not convinced that reflux is his only problem."

"At least he might start gaining some weight if he's keeping his food down. That's a good problem to start with." Addison encouraged.

"So prom is in three days?" Izzie asked.

"Yes. Kaitlyn is very excited. Are you coming over to see them off?" Addison asked.

"I wouldn't miss it." Izzie said.

"Maybe you can come over a little early in case I don't get off work in time to do her hair. I'm swamped this week. She'll be disappointed if it's not perfect." Addison said.

"Definitely!" Izzie said. "Nathan and I have to go find Mark now so we can do all of our errands before we get Lily." Izzie took her baby back.

"How is Lily?" Addison asked.

"She's doing good. I think she misses you at bedtime a lot, but she's working on it. Maybe you can take her one day this weekend so you get some time with her." Izzie suggested knowing Addison was missing Lily.

"That would be nice." Addison said.

"Dr. Shepherd." Someone called.

"Coming." Addison responded. "I have to go."

"We do too. Bye!" Izzie said.

"Bye." Addison responded.

Later…Derek found Addison. He stood there watching her work for a minute. She's amazing at what she does and looking more and more gorgeous every day. He came up behind her and put his hands on her belly.

"I can't wait for this baby." Derek whispered in her ear.

"Derek." Addison warned her. "We're not talking about it here. It's impossible to keep a secret."

"I want to shout it from the rooftops." Derek told her.

"Not yet." Addison said ending the conversation.

"How is my beautiful wife today?" He asked.

"I'm ready for my day to be over." Addison told him.

"Are you feeling alright?" Derek asked concerned.

"Yeah. I'm just really really tired." She told him.

"I'm done working. Do you want to go home?" Derek said.

"I can't. I have a least another hour of work to do." Addison informed him.

"I'll wait with you." Derek offered.

"No go home and be with Grace. Part of still working while we have kids is that we're there for dinner as much as possible. Plus the nanny leaves in 15 minutes. I don't want Kaitlyn to be stuck with her all the time." Addison said.

"Okay. We'll be waiting for you." Derek said. He kissed her and left.

Prom day. Derek was off that day but Addison was working. He had been playing with Grace when Kaitlyn came in the room.

"Where's Addie?" Kaitlyn asked.

"She's working today. She'll be home in time to see you before you have to leave." Derek informed her.

"She promised to help me get ready." Kaitlyn said getting upset.

"She's going to do the best she can. She's had a busy week at work." Derek said trying to make Kaitlyn understand.

"But I need her now. I wish my mom was here for this." Kaitlyn said with tears in her eyes. Derek stood up and hugged her.

"I know you do sweetheart. We all wish your mom could be here. Addie is a great substitute." Derek said consoling her.

"When she's here." Kaitlyn responded.

"She will be here." Derek promised. "What do you need her for now? Maybe I can help." Kaitlyn looked at him as if to say yeah right. "Or I can call Izzie."

"I painted my left hand but I just can't make my right hand look as good." Kaitlyn said.

"Oh that I can help with." Derek told her.

"I'm not sure about that." Kaitlyn said.

"I have very steady hands. Give me a chance. If you hate it Izzie can come fix it." Derek reasoned with her.

"Alright." Kaitlyn said handing over the nail polish. They sat on the floor and Grace watched as Derek carefully painted each of the nails on Kaitlyn's right hand.

"What do you think?" Derek asked. Kaitlyn held up her hand and examined it.

"It looks awesome." Kaitlyn said.

"I can do little flowers." Derek offered.

"Really? Where did you learn that?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I grew up with four sisters. Plus I already told you being a surgeon gives me really steady hands." Derek added.

"You can try." Kaitlyn said. She ended up with gorgeous nails for prom and Derek totally surprised her with his skills. She was a little less upset that Addison wasn't there, but she still wanted a girl to help her do her hair and makeup. Grace was engrossed in watching.

"Pretty." Grace said point to her fingers.

"Do you want your nails painted?" Kaitlyn asked Grace.

"Yes." Grace said.

"Alright. Sit down." Derek said. Grace sat in Kaitlyn's lap while Derek quickly put some pink nail polish on Grace's fingers.

"Pretty." Grace said again looking at her nails.

"Send a picture of our nails to Addie." Kaitlyn told Derek. He took a picture of Kaitlyn's fancy nails next to Grace's tiny ones. Kaitlyn went to her room to rest before prom and Derek put Grace down for a nap. Derek's phone rang.

"Hello." He answered.

"_Hi." Addison said from the other end of the line. _

"How is your day going?" Derek asked.

"_I feel like the worst parent ever this week. I've barely been home for them." Addison said. _

"You are a wonderful mother." Derek complimented her.

"_How did Kaity get Grace to stay still long enough to paint her nails?" Addison asked. _

"I painted both of their nails." Derek said proudly.

"_Wow. Impressive. They look gorgeous. How did you get Kaitlyn to let you try?" Addison wanted to know. _

"She was mad at you for not being home and then crying that she wanted her mom to be there for this. I told her I'm pretty good at nails and that if she didn't like them I would call Izzie." Derek filled Addison in on what was happening at home.

"_I should be there. I should have taken the day off. I'll be home in time. I promise. Izzie is going to come over to get the hair and make-up started. But I will be there. Tell Kaity that." Addison instructed. _

"I'll tell her." Derek said.

Later… Kaitlyn was crying in her room with the door locked. Derek stood outside her door holding Grace, trying to get Kaitlyn to talk to him.

"Kailyn, let me in." Derek said through the door.

"No go away." Kaitlyn responded firmly.

"Tell me what's wrong." Derek said.

"Addie promised she would be here." Kaitlyn said.

"She will be here. She just told me she's getting ready to leave." Derek said.

"I need to be getting ready now. I won't be ready in time." Kaitlyn cried.

"Kaity. She'll be here. I'll help you start getting ready." Derek tried to reason with her.

"You can't help with this part." Kaitlyn said to Derek.

"But I can." Izzie said walking up behind Derek. He turned around.

"I didn't hear you come in." Derek said.

"You appear to be a little busy." Izzie observed.

"Pretty." Grace said showing Izzie her nails.

"They are beautiful." Izzie told her.

"Feel free to help." Derek said.

"Kaitlyn. Can I come in? I know I'm not Addison but I know a thing or two about hair and make-up and I know you have a wonderful boyfriend waiting to take you to the prom." Izzie said. The door to Kaitlyn's room opened. Izzie went in and shut Derek out in the hallway. He called Addison but she didn't answer.

"Ad. Kaity's really upset. She needs you to come home. I told her you were on your way. I hope you are." Derek said in his message. Addison listened to it a few minutes after he left it. She felt bad she had been putting work before the kids this week and packed up her stuff and left.

In Kaitlyn's room, Izzie began curling Kaitlyn's hair.

"You are going to have so much fun at prom." Izzie said trying to get Kaitlyn excited. Kaitlyn didn't respond so Izzie just kept curling without saying anything. After a while Kaitlyn said something.

"I hope Will's tie matches my dress." Kaitlyn told Izzie.

"I'm sure it will." Izzie said.

"We matched it from a picture." Kaitlyn said.

"That usually works. Your hair is almost curled. Do you want to pull some of it back or something?" Izzie asked.

"I'm not sure." Kaitlyn said. "Does my face look bad from crying?"

"No. Your eyes are a little puffy, but we can fix that with make-up." Izzie reassured her.

"Thanks for helping me." Kaitlyn said.

"You're welcome. You know Addison did really want to be here. She told me every day this week. She will be here to see you." Izzie said.

"I know. I shouldn't be mad. She didn't ask to work today. All of my friends were talking about how their mothers are helping them get ready. Addie's all I have." Kaitlyn said.

"For everything else I guess it's great you have Addie, Derek, or your Dad. It works well having so many options when they're all surgeons, but not for this." Izzie said.

"No, not for this." Kaitlyn said.

"You know you always have me too. I'm not going anywhere any time soon. And while I'm on maternity leave, I have all the time in the world to help you. When I'm an intern again, not so much." Izzie told her.

"Thanks Izzie." Kaitlyn said hugging Izzie.

"Hi." Kaitlyn and Izzie turned to the doorway to see who was there.

"Addie!" Kaitlyn said.

"I told you I wouldn't miss it." Addison said. "Your hair looks beautiful."

"Izzie did it." Kaitlyn said. "Did you see Grace's finger nails?"

"I saw the picture. I didn't go see them yet. You know Grace will want to be held and right now is your time." Addison said. "How about some make-up?"

Kaitlyn was ready to go and looked beautiful.

"One more thing." Addison said. She left and came back holding a blue barrette that matched Kaitlyn's dress perfectly. "I have this barrette for you." Addison started putting some of Kaitlyn's hair up in it. "Your mom wore this to my wedding. I thought it would match perfectly. You look a lot like your mother today."

"Thanks." Kaitlyn said hugging Addison.

"Let's go downstairs. I believe someone is waiting for you." Addison said. They all walked downstairs. Derek, Mark, Grace, Nathan, Lily, and Will were all in the living room waiting for Kaitlyn to come down.

"You look really pretty Kaitlyn." Will said to her.

"Thank you." Kaitlyn said.

"I got you these flowers." He said putting the corsage on her arm.

"I got you flowers too." She said turn toward the kitchen.

"I'll get it." Derek said. Derek brought the boutonniere to Kaitlyn. She tried to put it on.

"I don't know what I'm doing." Kaitlyn said.

"I can tell." Will replied laughing.

"I'll do it." Addison said smiling.

"That would be good before she puts it in my skin." Will said. Everyone laughed in response.

"Hey. I'm not that bad." Kaitlyn said. Addison pinned on the boutonniere perfectly.

"Picture time!" Izzie announced. They took tons and tons of pictures, inside, outside, various poses, with all the kids and families.

"Kaity." Lily said.

"What?" Kaitlyn responded.

"You look like a princess." Lily said in awe.

"Thanks." Kaitlyn said with a big smile. That is the biggest compliment Lily gives.

"You guys are going to be late." Derek said. They got in the car and left.

"What now? Party?" Mark said.

"Stay up all night and worry?" Addison responded.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Derek offered. "I have some burgers to cook."

"That would be nice." Izzie said.

They sat out on the patio late talking and listening to music. 'The way you look tonight' came on.

"Dance with me." Derek said to Addison.

"Here?" Addison asked.

"Yes. It's prom night after all." Derek responded pulling her up. They slow danced under the stars looking completely in love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**Thanks for reading and reviews! **

Izzie walked a crying baby around the house again. It was 3 am and she had only slept for an hour so far that night. Mark came down the stairs.

"I'll take a turn." He said taking the baby from her arms. "You need some sleep."

"You're working in the morning. You need your sleep more. I'll be fine." Izzie reassured him.

"We'll hang out for an hour and I'll take an hour nap before work." Mark said.

Izzie reluctantly gave in and went to bed. Mark's alarm went off at 5 waking her up. She went downstairs to find Mark, but knocked a laundry basket down the stairs making a lot of noise on its way. Instantly the baby started screaming.

"Sorry." Izzie said. "You apparently were doing well with the sleeping thing."

"Yeah. He fell asleep just after you went to bed." Mark said. "What time is it?"

"Five." Izzie replied taking the baby from Mark. Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs, half-asleep.

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"Izzie tripped on a laundry basket. Everything's okay. Go back to sleep." Mark told her.

"But it's morning, I'm awake!" Lily said. Izzie sighed. Her day was starting early.

Derek laid in bed rubbing circles on Addison's belly.

"You're starting to get a little belly." Derek said to Addison.

"I know. So soon this time." Addison replied.

"I wonder if this one will get your red hair too." Derek said.

"Derek." Addison groaned.

"Yes." Derek replied.

"I wanted to sleep in today. Go to work." Addison said. Derek laughed.

"I'm getting up." He said kissing her.

Later that day… Addison knocked on the door of Izzie and Mark's house. Izzie opened the door, still in her pajamas, looking like a mess. She was holding her screaming baby.

"We brought you lunch." Addison said to her.

"Baby cry." Grace said.

"Yes baby cries all the time." Izzie said. Addison put Grace down with some toys and took Nathan from Izzie. "How do I make him stop? I slept for a total of three hours last night."

"You need to relax and he'll relax." Addison said bouncing the baby.

"Mark finally got him to sleep around 3 and I woke the whole house up at 5 by accident. Even Lily." Izzie informed her.

"Do you want to nap? Or shower?" Addison asked. "I can rock the baby for a while."

"Do you want to eat lunch first?" Izzie asked. "I haven't eaten yet today."

"Okay. Have you tried letting him cry it out?" Addison asked.

"I can't do it." Izzie said.

"We're doing it during lunch. I'll help you make it through it. Just fifteen minutes." Addison said. She put the baby in his swing and made Izzie go into the kitchen with her. Nathan cried through lunch but started to calm down a little towards the end. "See he's learning to self soothe."

"That would be helpful. But it's so hard to let him cry because I know his reflux is probably painful." Izzie said.

"Yeah, but fifteen minutes of not being held won't kill him." Addison reassured her. "So do you want to sleep?"

"Actually I want to shower. I haven't showered in days. I can sleep when Mark gets home." Izzie said.

"Then go shower. Grace and I have it under control." Addison said.

When Izzie came back down, Addison was sitting in the rocking chair with Nathan sleeping on her shoulder.

"How am I the only one who can't get my child to sleep?" Izzie asked upset.

"Oh Iz." Addison said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"No it's okay. I should be upset you got him to sleep. I'm just tired. So tired. And overwhelmed." Izzie said near tears.

"Go away for the weekend. Just take Mark and go. You never did get a honeymoon. I'll take the kids." Addison said.

"I can't do that." Izzie said.

"You can. You need to. You need a break before you go back to work and life gets even more stressful." Addison told her.

"I guess it would be nice to have some peace and quiet." Izzie said.

"Pack up and go." Addison said.

"I'm such a failure." Izzie said.

"You're not. You're doing awesome. Everyone needs a break from kids sometimes." Addison said.

"Alright. If you're sure you can handle all of them." Izzie said.

"I can for a weekend." Addison offered. "When do you want to leave?"

"Tonight?" Izzie asked.

Later that evening… Derek and Addison were out in the yard with Grace when Mark and Izzie pulled up. Derek quickly kissed Addison.

"Ew. I am not leaving my kids with you if you can't keep your hands off each other." Mark joked. 

"We'll being that one of your kids is already here, you don't really have that option." Addison responded. Derek came up behind her and put his hands on her belly.

"Where are you going?" Derek asked them.

"Wherever we end up. We're going to get in the car and drive. Towards the beach I think." Izzie told him sounding more excited than she had in months. Addison knew she was doing the right thing even if she didn't sleep all weekend.

"Do I really get to stay with you for the whole weekend?" Lily asked Addison and Derek.

"The whole weekend." Addison confirmed.

"Let me help you with that." Derek said taking some bags from Mark.

"That's your bag of breastmilk for the weekend." Mark informed Derek.

"Awesome." Derek said sarcastically.

Izzie walked next to Addison.

"Do you have some news to tell me?" Izzie asked her.

"Nope." Addison said.

"You're pregnant." Izzie said. Addison just looked at her not knowing what to say.

"Nope." Addison finally said.

"Liar. Get some bloodwork done." Izzie said. "I've had my suspicions. You have a little belly and Derek had his hands on it. And it took you a minute to say no."

"Give me your kid and get out of here." Addison joked. 

"I was just saying." Izzie said. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Addison said taking the baby. "Are you ready to spend a weekend with your sisters?"

"I change my mind. I can't leave him." Izzie said.

"You're so excited. You can do it." Addison reassured her.

"Iz, we've been through this. He'll be fine. Addison and Derek are perfectly capable of taking care of him." Mark said.

"Only if you can really handle it." Izzie said.

"We can. We need the practice anyway." Derek said. Addison smacked him playfully.

"I knew it!" Izzie said.

"Okay fine. I'm pregnant." Addison said.

"Congratulations!" Izzie said excited for her.

"Can you keep it a secret a little longer? We're waiting until 12 weeks to tell people." Addison explained.

"Sure." Izzie said. "I don't have the time to gossip anyway."

"Let's go." Mark said. Izzie took the baby back. 

"It's okay baby. Mommy and Daddy love you very much." Izzie said to the baby. "Mommy doesn't want to leave you." 

"Izzie give the baby to Addison." Mark ordered. 

"Maybe we could take him." Izzie said.

"Izzie. The point is you get a break. Give me the baby and get out of here." Addison said. Addison took the baby out of a very reluctant Izzie's arms.

"Okay." Izzie said. 

"Let's go while we can." Mark said trying to drag Izzie out of the house. 

"Mark says he's been picky with what bottles he'll take. I packed a bunch of different kinds." Izzie told Addison 

"Okay." Addison replied.

"He'll want a bottle when he wakes up and before his nap and…." Izzie said beginning to list more instructions. Addison smiled. 

"We've watched him before." Addison said. 

"And his medicine." She added.

"We've got it." Addison said attempting to make Izzie leave.

"I know. I just…" She rubbed the baby's head and kissed him. "I'm going to miss you." 

"He'll miss you too, but he'll be fine." Addison reassured Izzie.

"Okay. Let's go." Izzie announced. 

"Thanks guys." Mark said to Addison and Derek. 

"Our pleasure." Derek answered.

"What are we going to do to?" Lily asked.

"We are going to have lots of fun." Derek said.

"Tomorrow we're having a lot of friends from work over for a cookout." Addison told her.

"What are we cooking out?" Lily asked.

"I was thinking hamburgers and chicken." Addison said. "What do you think?"

"That sounds good. Maybe you should have hot dogs too." Lily said.

"We could do that."

Later….

"Bath time little ones." Addison said. They gave the babies and Lily a bath and got them changed into pajamas. Derek went with Lily to her room to put her to bed. Kaitlyn walked past the nursery. "Kaitlyn."

"Yeah?" Kaitlyn said stopping in the doorway. 

"I need some help. Do you think you can watch them for a few minutes while I make a bottle?" Addison asked. 

"Sure." Kaitlyn said. She took Nathan from Addison and sat on the floor with him and Grace. Addison made a bottle and then came back a few minutes later. 

"Thank you." Addison said to her. 

"Do you need anything else?" Kaitlyn asked. 

"Nope." Addison said.

"Okay. It's Friday. Can I go see Will for a while?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Yes. Be home by midnight." Addison instructed. Addison took the baby and let Grace continue to play on the floor. She turned off the bright light, leaving on only the little lamp they use for middle of the night diaper changes. She sat in the rocking chair and cradled Nathan. She tried to get him to take the bottle. "Are you going to eat for me? Or am I going to go through a hundred bottles until I find the right one?" He was getting fussy and he wouldn't suck on the bottle for more than a few seconds. Grace walked over and put her hand on Addison's knee and held her other arm in the air.

"Mama?" Grace said.

"Hold on sweetheart." Addison instructed. Grace started crying. She pulled her onto her lap with Nathan. Grace started pulling on her shirt, usually a sign that she wanted to nurse. "Wait a minute baby." Derek came in. 

"You look like you have your hands full." Derek observed. 

"He won't eat and she wants to nurse." Addison said.

"Tell me what you want me to do." He said. 

"Can you try a different bottle?" Addison asked handing him the bottle she had. 

"Yeah. I'll be back." Derek said.

Addison put Nathan in the crib. She sat in the rocking chair nursing Grace. Nathan started getting fussy.

"You're bottle's coming." Addison said gently to him.

Derek came back in a minute later. He picked up Nathan and started feeding him.

"You know it's been pretty easy so far." Derek commented.

"Did you really just say that? You totally jinxed our night." Addison said. 

"He's not taking the bottle." Derek said as Nathan got fussier. 

"She's almost done. She'll go right to bed and then I'll try. Did he eat anything?" Addison asked. 

"Maybe an ounce." Derek said holding up the bottle to check. Grace finished eating.

"Let me put Grace to bed and then I'll try." Addison said laying Grace down.

"You remembered to give him his medicine right?" Derek said.

"Yeah." Addison replied. They went out into the hallway. "Come here, kid." Addison said taking Nathan from Derek.

A little while later….Nathan had just finished his bottle after a long time of trying to feed him. He was pretty fussy still. Addison yawned as she bounced the baby to try to soothe him.

"Let me take him for a while and you go to sleep." Derek offered.

"Alright." Addison said. It didn't take much convincing to get her to go to bed. She was exhausted and feeling a little nauseous.

Derek took Nathan downstairs. He tried walking, he tried bouncing, he tried rocking. Nothing worked with this kid. He turned the tv up a little and sat in the recliner with Nathan. Eventually they both fell asleep. Derek woke up to the front door closing. Kaitlyn walked quietly through the living room towards the stairs. She thought she was sneaking up to bed.

"It's 1 am." Derek said. Kaitlyn jumped. She wasn't expecting anyone to be downstairs.

"You scared me." Kaitlyn said.

"You were supposed to be home an hour ago." Derek lectured.

"We fell asleep. I didn't mean to." Kaitlyn said. "Please don't ground me." Derek had a better idea.

"I'm not grounding you." Derek said. Kaitlyn looked relieved. "Whenever your brother wakes up tonight, you are taking care of him. That's your punishment."

"So basically because I stayed out late, I have to stay up all night." Kaitlyn said annoyed.

"Exactly." Derek said. "I go to bed now. Sleep when the baby is sleeping."

Derek took Nathan up to his room and laid him in the playpen. Addison rolled over and looked at the clock.

"Have you been up this whole time?" Addison asked.

"No. Kaitlyn woke me up coming in." Derek said getting into bed.

"She's an hour late." Addison said.

"I took care of it." Derek informed her.

"What did you do?" Addison asked.

"I told her since she stayed out late, she has to be the one to take care of the baby whenever he wakes up tonight." Derek said.

"You evil genius." Addison said.

**Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to get another chapter up soon, but if not, it won't happen for a week. Sorry for making you wait. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took a while. I was having a hard time making it good. It's kind of a fluff chapter between what happened before and what I have planned for next time. More will come this weekend!**

Derek woke up pretty early to go to work.

"I have to go honey." Derek said quietly to Addison. 

"What time are you going to be home?" Addison asked. 

"My goal's 4. I don't have any scheduled surgeries for this afternoon." He told her as he knocked something off the nightstand. Nathan started crying.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly.

"It's okay, just bring him to me." Addison said to him.

"Not Kaitlyn?" Derek asked as he picked up the baby who instantly stopped crying.

"No. Her punishment can be over." Addison said. Derek handed her the baby.

"Having four kids is exhausting. And one's a teenager." Derek said.

"She might be the most exhausting." Addison replied.

"I don't know how my mom did it with five." Derek commented.

"Me neither." Addison responded.

"I'll see you later." He said as he kissed her goodbye.

"Bye." Addison said. "What do you say little guy? How about you and I get some more sleep before the girls wake up?"

Fifteen minutes later Lily came in the room and jumped up on the bed.

"How come it's dark out this morning?" Lily asked Addison.

"That's because it's too early to be awake." Addison groaned.

"Should I go back to sleep?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Addison said. Lily laid down in the bed with Addison and Nathan.

Two minutes later…

"I'm awake again." Lily said as she sat up in bed. Nathan cooed.

"I guess we are getting up early today." Addison said.

Addison and the kids were getting back home after a busy morning at the park. Everyone was hot and tired.

"Will you take Nathan out of his carseat and put him in the playpen in my room?" Addison asked Kaitlyn.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn responded. Addison took a sleeping Grace out of her carseat. 

"I'm tired." Lily announced.

"I know. Lay in the basement and watch a movie so that you can be well rested for our party tonight." Addison told her.

"I don't want to take a nap." Lily said. 

"You don't have to sleep, just rest so you can be awake for a campfire when it's dark." Addison told her.

"Okay." Lily said. Addison too Grace upstairs and put her in the crib. She went to her room to check on Nathan. 

"Every time I try to lay him down he wakes up. And he has a gross diaper that's coming through his clothes which I refuse to change. And he's really hot, his clothes are wet." Kaitlyn told Addison. Addison smiled and took the baby. 

"Can you make him a bottle while I get him ready for his nap?" Addison asked.

"I guess since I don't have to change him." Kaitlyn said. She came back with a bottle and Addison began changing him. He woke up crying. "Anything else?" 

"Check on Lily and if she doesn't need anything you can do whatever." Addison said. 

"Lily's asleep. And I'm going out with Will." Kaitlyn told Addison.

"What exactly are you doing?" Addison asked

"You told me I could do whatever if Lily's sleeping." Kaitlyn reminded her.

"You still need to tell me what you're doing." Addison said.

"I'm going to go to Will's house where he's all alone and have lots of crazy sex all day." Kaitlyn said sarcastically.

"Kaitlyn." Addison said.

"We are going to take his dog for a walk at the park." Kaitlyn said.

"Be home in time to help me get ready for the cookout." Addison responded.

When Nathan was asleep, Addison laid him in the playpen. The phone rang and she quickly answered it before it woke any of the kids.

"Hello?" Addison answered.

"Hi." Izzie said.

"Hey. How's vacation?" Addison asked.

"It's good." Izzie responded.

"Just good?" Addison asked disappointed.

"No. Wonderful. How's Nathan?" Izzie asked. 

"He's fine. We got up really early and spent all morning at the park." Addison informed her. 

"Oh good. Can I talk to him?" Izzie asked.

"Normally I would say yes and I would even wake him for you, but I just got three kids to sleep at the same time. Do you know how amazing that is?" Addison said. 

"Pretty amazing." Izzie responded. 

"Yeah. Plus he didn't nap this morning so I really need him to nap now. And I have things to get done during my hour of free time." Addison told her. 

"He'll nap longer than an hour especially if he didn't take a morning nap." Izzie said. 

"Grace won't." Addison told her.

"Oh. Well, have a good time tonight at the cookout." Izzie said. 

"It'll be interesting." Addison responded. 

"I bet." Izzie said. 

"Don't worry too much, we're fine!" Addison reassured her. 

"I'll try." Izzie said.

"Call back later or tomorrow and I'll let you talk to Nathan." Addison said. 

"Okay. Bye." Izzie responded.

Later…the doorbell rang. Addison went to answer it. Meredith was standing there.

"Hi. Come in." Addison greeted her. 

"Sorry I'm a little late." Meredith said as she stepped in the house. 

"Late? You're early." Addison replied.

"Derek told me four." Meredith said.

"Derek doesn't know what he's talking about." Addison told her. Meredith smiled. "But it's good because I could use a second set of hands." 

"I'll do anything. What do you need?" Meredith asked.

"Just hold him. He won't let me put him down and I need to cook." Addison said handing Nathan to Meredith. They went into the kitchen.

"Where are the girls?" Meredith asked trying to make conversation with her ex-boyfriend's wife.

"Lily thinks she's babysitting Grace in the playroom so they are both content and Kaitlyn is out with her boyfriend." Addison informed her.

"Boyfriend?" Meredith asked surprised.

"Yes. His name is Will. They've actually been together for a little while now." Addison said.

"Derek and Mark allow that?" Meredith asked.

"Well, when we found Kaitlyn and Will in bed together, they wanted to kill him." Addison said.

"That sounds about right." Meredith said smiling.

"Yup." Addison agreed.

"So you found them in bed? She seemed too much like a following the rules kind of a girl for that." Meredith said.

"I was a bit shocked. I didn't know what to do." Addison told her.

"Yeah I bet." Meredith said. They were both quiet for a minute. "I don't want it to be awkward between us."

"I'm sorry if I'm making it awkward." Addison said.

"No it's not you. I mean in general. We have a rocky history." Meredith said.

"I agree. We didn't get off to the best start." Addison responded.

"Izzie says you're an awesome person and there's so much I can learn from you at work. I'm sorry for not giving you a chance before. And for having an affair with your husband." Meredith said.

"It's me that should be saying I'm sorry to you. When you met Derek, we had been having trouble for a long time. Our marriage was over well before you were dating. I should be saying sorry to you for having an affair with your boyfriend." Addison responded. They both smiled at each other.

"I see what kind of family you are now and I know that Derek and I would never have worked out. I don't want kids." Meredith said.

"Why not?" Addison asked.

"I'll be a horrible mother." Meredith said.

"What makes you think that? You've been pretty good with the girls before." Addison said.

"My mother was a bad mother. I hate to say it but I think I'm just like her." Meredith said.

"I think you could be an awesome mother if you want to be." Addison said.

They heard the doorbell ring.

"I think our company is here." Addison said.

"Are we good?" Meredith asked.

"We are." Addison responded. "We should hang out sometime."

"I think that might really freak Derek out." Meredith said.

"And that could be what makes it most fun." Addison said smiling.

After dinner the adults sat on the patio while the three girls swam. Nathan was getting fussy in Derek's arms.

"I don't know what he wants." Derek said.

"He's sucking on his hand. He's probably hungry." Addison responded as she picked him up. "Are you watching the girls?" 

"Yeah." Derek answered. 

"We'll be back." Addison said taking Nathan inside.

"This is a nice quiet evening." Owen said as the girls screamed in the pool. 

"Except for those three." Cristina commented. 

"But I love that. It's a change of pace from the hospital and they are just having fun." Owen replied.

"It's great to be home with the kids." Derek said.

"I bet. I noticed we see less and less of Addison at the hospital." Owen said.

"She likes to be home with the girls." Derek informed them.

"Izzie hasn't even come back yet." Meredith said.

"Yeah. I think it'll be a little while before she comes back, especially after the honeymoon." Derek responded laughing.

"What do you think she's pregnant again?" Cristina asked. 

"No. She had trouble leaving Nathan so she's going to be home with him for a little while to make up for it." Derek replied. 

"Are you thinking about more kids?" Owen asked Derek. 

"I would have a dozen." Derek said and everyone laughed. 

"I don't think your wife would." Cristina said. 

"I'm beginning to picture myself with one. There's no way I would have twelve." Meredith commented. The sun was starting to set and the air was cooling off some. Addison came back out with Nathan. He was lying in her arms facing out and she had a cloth diaper draped over her shoulder.

"McDreamy over here wants a dozen kids." Cristina informed Addison.

"I don't know who he's having them with." Addison said making everyone laugh again.

"Cristina's taking that out of context. I was just trying to express that I would like to have more kids." Derek said.

"Well, I'll tell you what. If you give birth to half of them, we can have 12 kids." Addison told him.

"Oh I would love to see that." Cristina said. 


	6. Chapter 6

2 AM Seattle, 5 AM New York….

Addison carried Nathan around trying to get him to stop crying. She dialed Derek's cell phone.

"_Hey you. Are you up for a middle of the night feeding?"_ Derek answered. 

"I was half an hour ago. Now he's just fussy. He's been really unusually fussy lately. I think something's not right." Addison said.

"_You're probably just tired so you feel like he's more fussy." _Derek suggested.

"I am so tired." Addison said.

_"I wish I could help you from here, but there isn't really anything I can do."_ Derek said. 

"I know. I wanted to hear your voice. How's your Mom?" Addison asked.

_"She's doing better than when they brought her in but still not too good. Did you try the swing?"_ Derek responded.

"No." Addison said. 

"_He likes that motion."_ Derek suggested. 

"I'm putting him in now. What's going to happen now?" Addison replied. 

"_Uh he might stop crying." _Derek responded confused.

__"With your mother." Addison said laughing.

"_Oh. She's having surgery soon and they think they are going to start the chemo." _Derek informed her.

"Keep me updated." Addison said.

"_I should be doing this surgery." _Derek said angrily.

"You shouldn't." Addison said.

"_I could do it better." _Derek said.

"Derek, you're exhausted and emotional, and it's your mom, you really shouldn't be operating on her right now. She's in great hands. You know most of the surgeons. They're going to do their best." Addison consoled him.

_"I'm worried. How's Nathan now?" _Derek asked changing the subject.

"He's calmer, but still crying a little." Addison started crying a little. 

"_What's wrong?"_ Derek asked.

"I'm tired. I miss you. Nathan won't stop crying. I haven't slept since you left. I want to be there for you." Addison said. 

"_You know what. I'll come home today. I'll be home by bedtime." _Derek told her.

__"No don't come until you family is ready for you to leave. Mark and Izzie will be home in the morning and then I'll get more sleep." Addison said.

_"I'll come home for a few days and take some stress off of you." _Derek offered.

"Let's talk about that in the morning." Addison told her.

_"How are you feeling?" _Derek asked. _  
><em>

"It's actually not so bad this time. I haven't been nearly as sick as I was with Grace." Addison informed him.

"_That's good." _Derek said. _  
><em>

"I noticed last night that I'm starting to get a little belly." Addison said. 

"_Oh. I missed it?"_ Derek sounded upset.

"Derek. You didn't miss anything, except one sleepless night because of the baby. My belly is going to get bigger and bigger over the next few months." Addison said. 

"_I have to go now." Derek said. _

"I love you." Addison said.

"_I love you too."_ Derek responded. _"Bye"_

Addison was awake all night either with Nathan or thinking about Derek and his mother. She decided she needed to be with Derek.

In the morning….Lily found Addison in Grace's room getting the babies changed. 

"Can you make me breakfast?" Lily asked. 

"Sure. What would you like?" Addison responded.

"Cereal." Lily answered.

"Let's go to the kitchen." Addison said as she picked up Grace and Nathan and carried them to the kitchen.

"I got a bowl." Lily said. 

"Okay. Let me get them all set and I'll get down your cereal." Addison said as she settled the little kids into their seats. "Do you want cheerios?"

"Yes." Lily said. Addison got down cheerios and poured some in Lily's bowl and some on Grace's tray. She got out the milk for Lily's cereal. "Today we are making cookies at camp." 

"You are?" Addison said. 

"Yup." Lily confirmed. 

"That's fun. I bet they will be yummy." Addison said. She gave Grace more to eat and started feeding Nathan some baby food.

"I'm excited." Lily said. 

"I can tell." Addison told her.

"What are you doing today?" Lily asked. 

"I'm going to call Owen and tell him I can't come to work. Then Grace and I might go on an adventure after Daddy picks up Nathan." Addison told her. 

"That's good. You need a break." Lily advised. 

"I do need a break." Addison agreed.

"I miss Derek making my breakfast." Lily said sadly. 

"Oh really? Does he make cereal better than me?" Addison asked. 

"Yes." Lily said giggling.

"What's so good about his cereal?" Addison asked. 

"He puts bananas or strawberries on my cereal." Lily told her. 

"I can do that. You should have asked me." Addison said.

"Can we call Derek?" Lily asked. 

"Sure. Do you want a banana?" Addison asked as she picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Yes please." Lily said.

_"Hello?"_ Derek answered.

"Good morning." Addison said. 

"_Good morning beautiful."_ Derek replied very happy to hear her voice. 

"How's it going?" Addison asked.

_"Okay. They couldn't get all of the cancer with surgery. We're meeting with the doctors soon."_ Derek informed her.

"Let me know how that goes." Addison said. 

"_Yeah I will. How was the rest of your night and morning?" _Derek asked. _  
><em>

"The baby went to sleep but then Grace woke up and then Nathan woke up around 7 so I didn't sleep as much as I would have liked, but everyone's in a good mood this morning." She filled him in . 

"_That's good."_ Derek said. 

"Yeah. Someone wants to talk to you." Addison said. 

"_Okay."_ Derek answered. 

"Hold on." Addison said as she gave the phone to Lily.

"Hi." Lily said. 

"_Hi sweetheart. Are you being good while I'm gone?"_ Derek asked her. 

"Yes. Addie can't make cereal right." Lily told him. 

"_She can't? What's wrong with it?"_ Derek asked. 

"She didn't put in bananas or strawberries." Lily said. 

"_Oh no. That's not good." _Derek said._  
><em>

"No. I told her you are better." Lily told him.

_"Oh yeah. I make the best cereal."_ Derek said.

"Yes you do." Lily said.

_"Have a good breakfast.. Can I talk to Addie again?"_ Derek asked. 

"Yup. Bye." Lily said.

"_Bye."_ Derek responded.

"Hi." Addison said. 

"_Hey. I have to go now but I'll call you in a little while."_ Derek told her. 

"I love you. Bye." Addison said.

"_Bye." _Derek said. Addison hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang.

"Who is that?" Lily asked.

"Probably Daddy and Izzie." Addison said as she picked up Nathan and headed toward the door. Lily and Grace followed her running. Addison opened the door and Mark and Izzie were standing there.

"Hi Nathan!" Izzie exclaimed taking the baby from Addison. "I missed you."

"Daddy!" Lily shrieked and jumped into Mark's arms.

"Iz!" Grace said.

"Hi Gracie." Izzie greeted her.

"Come in." Addison said. "How was the trip?"

"It was really nice to get away." Izzie responded hugging Nathan. Mark put Lily down.

"My turn." He said taking the baby. "How was having four kids?"

"Really not much different than our life with three." Addison told him.

"Where's Derek?" Mark asked.

"New York." Addison said. "Lily, can you take Gracie to the playroom and watch her for me?"

"Of course." Lily said. "Come on Gracie." Lily took her hand and led her the playroom.

"We got a call yesterday that Carolyn collapsed and she was rushed to the hospital. She was showing all of the signs of a stroke so Derek went right to New York. They didn't think she was going to live long, but it turns out that she has a brain tumor. They operated this morning, but couldn't get it all. I haven't heard what the next step is going to be. The surgery is giving her some time though." Addison filled them in.

"How's Derek taking it?" Mark asked.

"He's worried. He wanted to do the surgery." Addison told Mark.

"I'm surprised they were able to stop him." Mark said.

"Yeah, but he knows he shouldn't have been doing it." Addison said.

"You should have called us. We could have come home sooner." Mark said.

"Yesterday, it was too much for us all to drop everything and leave so I wouldn't have gone even if I didn't have Nathan, but I think I'm going to go this morning." Addison said.

"You should." Mark said. "We'll take all of the kids."

"Thanks." Addison said. "I am going to take Grace with me though. Derek's family never gets to see her. I feel like I shouldn't go without her."

"Let us keep Lily and Kaitlyn for a while." Mark said.

"Yeah definitely. That will make everything really easy." Addison said.

"I'll go get them ready." Mark said.

"Just so you know, we didn't say anything about Derek's mom being sick and we haven't told them that I'm pregnant." Addison said.

"You're pregnant?" Kaitlyn said and all of the adults turned around. They didn't see her come down the stairs.

"I think she knows now." Mark said.

"Yes I am pregnant. You don't sound too happy about it." Addison said.

"I'm happy about it. It's just that I'm going to miss out on everything at school." Kaitlyn said sadly.

"I promise you will still be a part of everything that happens, but can we keep this a secret for now?" Addison asked.

"What about Derek's mom?" Kaitlyn asked.

"She's very sick. That's why Derek went to New York yesterday. I'm going to go too now that your dad is home." Addison told her. "For now I need you to help out with Lily."

"Okay." Kaitlyn said. "What about Grace?"

"I'm going to take her with me." Addison said.

"Oh so she gets to go because she's actually your kid. I thought you loved all of us." Kaitlyn yelled and stormed out of the room. Addison looked at Mark and Izzie for some help.

"Really? She has to do this today?" Addison said.

"I'll take care of that." Mark said.

"No I'll go." Addison said. "Can you just hang out here and keep an eye on Grace for a while?"

"Sure." Izzie said.

Addison went upstairs and into Kaitlyn's room.

"You know that Derek and I love all of you more than we can even explain to you with words." Addison said.

"So why are you only taking your kid?" Kaitlyn argued.

"I'm not taking Grace because she's my kid. I'm taking her because Derek is her dad and his mother is her grandmother who she hasn't gotten to spend much time with in her life. Besides, she's a baby and hasn't spent that much time away from me so she'd be coming no matter who we were going to see. Also, we are not excluding you, you are more than welcome to come as long as you understand the situation. I think Lily's a little bit young to be dragging around to the hospital all day visiting someone who is extremely sick. I think it will just scare her. And I assumed that you would also not want to go to New York to sit in a hospital for a few days." Addison explained.

"It probably would scare her." Kaitlyn said.

"Do you want to come?" Addison asked.

"What exactly is going on?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Derek's mom has cancer in her brain. It is too advanced to be completely removed by surgery and is affecting her speech and ability to move her body. I haven't talked to Derek since she got out of surgery so I'm not sure what the next treatment is going to be or how long she is going to live. It is very serious though." Addison explained the situation to Kaitlyn.

"She has been a grandmother sometimes." Kaitlyn said.

"I know. She's a wonderful grandmother. You probably have spent more time with her than you even remember." Addison said. "You are welcome to come with me if you want to see her or you want to be there for Derek, but this is not time to visit our friends and do fun things like we would on a normal visit. If that's what you are looking for, I promise I will take you in a few weeks. We have to go get you ready for college anyway." Addison smiled.

"I don't know if I want to go." Kaitlyn said.

"It's overwhelming. You really haven't experienced watching someone this sick before besides your mom and you really were too young then to fully understand. It's going to be hard." Addison told her.

"Will I get to visit her in a few weeks?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I really don't know." Addison said honestly. Kaitlyn was quiet and unsure. "Is this really about coming to New York? Or is it about me being pregnant? Or maybe going to school far away?"

"No." Kaitlyn said.

"So you're okay about the new baby?" Addison asked.

"Do I get a choice?" Kaitlyn said.

"So you're not okay." Addison said.

"No I am." Kaitlyn said.

"I don't want to leave with you mad at me, but I really need to get ready." Addison said. "Think about what is really upsetting you and call me or we will talk about it next time I see you."

Later…Addison and Grace landed in New York. She called Nancy on the way to baggage claim. She didn't want Derek to get suspicious; she really wanted to surprise him.

"_Hey. We are really missing you right now." _Nancy said answering her phone.

"I know. I wish I could be with you guys." Addison said. "How are you doing?"

_"I'm alright. We've had a long day." _Nancy said.

"I bet. Are you still at the hospital?" Addison asked.

"_No. Our husbands and the nurses convinced us to take some time off. We're all sitting in Mom's kitchen." _Nancy said.

"I feel like I'm missing out." Addison said.

"_You haven't missed anything other than stress." _Nancy said. _"Can I call you back? I'm getting a call from the hospital." _

"Sure." Addison said happy that she didn't have to tell Nancy where she was to get her off the phone now that she knew where to go.

Addison rented a car and drove to Carolyn's house. She carried Grace who was sound asleep into the kitchen.

"Hi." Addison said when she stepped into the kitchen. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around.

"Addison!" Nancy said. "I just talked to you."

"I know." Addison said. "I wanted to know where I should go."

"Hi." Derek said as he kissed her. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Do you want me to take the baby upstairs?" Kathleen offered.

"No I want to hold my baby for a little while." Derek said taking Grace from Addison.

"I can't believe you all actually came home." Addison said.

"We couldn't do it anymore. They sedated mom for the night anyway." Kathleen said.

"Besides these two stole some scans and are trying to come up with a plan for how they can operate to remove the rest of the cancer." Nancy said.

"Why couldn't they get it all?" Addison asked.

"Because these cowards of surgeons were too afraid to get that close to the brainstem, but we're thinking if we go in this way which could be a little bit riskier of a surgery we could get it all without damaging any brainstem tissue. I think I could do it." Amelia said.

"But you've only just started practicing medicine again." Kathleen said.

"Derek's good. Derek could definitely do it." Amelia said.

"Let me see those scans again." Derek said. Amelia passed them to him. He held them up to the light to look. "I think Amelia's plan would work."

"Neither of you have privileges at that hospital." Kathleen pointed out.

"We could work something out." Derek said.

"We could fly her to Seattle." Amelia suggested.

"No. I think everyone needs to forget about everything for the evening and get some sleep." Nancy reasoned.

"Really. I came here to spend time with you all, not listen to crazy surgical plans." Addison said.

"Distract them Addie. Tell them what's new in Seattle." Kathleen said. Derek put his arm around Addison and rested his hand on her growing belly. She tried to push it away before anyone noticed.

"You're pregnant?!" Nancy blurted out.

"I think you outed us." Addison said to Derek.

"You're really pregnant?!" Kathleen said.

"I guess there's no point in hiding it now." Derek said.

"Yes. I'm about fourteen weeks pregnant." Addison informed them.

"Congratulations!" They all said.

"And you weren't going to tell us?!" Nancy said.

"I was just waiting for the right time. You know we kind of have a rough history when it comes to that." Addison said.

"I'm so happy for you." Kathleen said.

"It's good that you all know though. It was getting hard to hide it." Addison said.

"I guess we need to tell the girls now." Derek said.

"Kaitlyn knows and she is not happy." Addison informed him.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"I'm not sure but I think it has more to do with college than the baby." Addison said. "But we'll talk about that later. We are here to spend time with your sisters." They spent a few hours talking and catching up before realizing how late it was. Derek and Addison stayed at Carolyn's house.

"Now that we're alone, we need to talk about something." Derek said.

"Okay." Addison replied.

"I want to move back to New York. I miss my family. I want Grace and the new baby to grow up with their cousins. We could both easily get jobs here. I think it's time." Derek said.

"I miss your family so much. We had a great night. I want our kids to grow up with your family around too. But…" Addison said.

"You can't leave Kaitlyn and Lily." Derek said.

"I've been raising them for a few years now, I can't just abandon them. However, Kaitlyn will also be in New York for college and Lily's spending most of her time with Mark now. He's being a stable father and I don't see that changing any time soon now that he has Izzie and Nathan." Addison explained.

"What's your thought?" Derek asked.

"I think we should move…" Addison said.

"I am so happy." Derek said interrupted her again.

"As long as we can make an arrangement with Mark that lets us see Lily occasionally still." Addison finished.

"I agree." Derek said.

"Did we just decide to move to New York?" Addison asked extremely happy.

"I think we did." Derek answered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

Addison headed downstairs with Grace in the morning. Nancy and Kathleen were sitting in Carolyn's kitchen.

"Good morning." Addison greeted them.

"Good morning." Kathleen said. "Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?" 

"I would love one." Addison said settling Grace in a high chair and sitting next to Nancy. "Where's Derek?"

"He went to the hospital early with Amelia." Nancy informed her.

"At least they're not fighting." Kathleen said.

"Any updates this morning?" Addison asked.

"Mom is stable, she's talking a little bit, but she's still having trouble with movement." Nancy filled Addison in.

"I think I'll go over soon." Addison said.

"You should. Mom will be so happy to see you." Kathleen said.

"Are Derek and Amelia still obsessing over another surgery?" Addison asked.

"That I don't know. I haven't seen either of them this morning." Nancy said.

"We're kind of avoiding them. They're stressing us out." Kathleen added.

"When are you heading over?" Addison asked.

"I was thinking we could go in half an hour. We're serious about needing some zen time." Nancy said.

"Do you want someone to watch Grace? Colleen is watching my younger kids for a while." Kathleen asked.

"That might work well for the morning and then I'll bring her in the afternoon. I know Derek wants to see her but I'm sure it's not going to be easy to have her at the hospital." Addison said. "Also then maybe Derek would leave the hospital to see Grace for a while."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Kathleen responded.

"Do you provide mom advice during zen time?" Addison asked smiling.

"Why not?" Nancy responded.

"Yesterday, Kaitlyn overheard me talking to Mark and Izzie about being pregnant, well, ironically, me telling them that the girls don't know I'm pregnant and she also overheard me talking about Mom. When she found out I was only bringing Grace with me, she stormed out of the room. " Addison told them.

"Did you talk to her about it?" Nancy asked.

"Of course. She's mad at me because she thinks I'm only bringing Grace because she's, in Kaitlyn's words, 'actually my kid', but she was upset with 'I'm pregnant'. I told her why I was bringing Grace and that it pretty much only had to do with the fact that she's not even 2. I told her what's going on here. I gave her the chance to come. She's still angry or upset and it keeps coming back to I'm pregnant. What am I supposed to do? I can't change that I'm pregnant and I don't want to change that, but she's leaving for school thousands of miles away in 6 weeks and I want her happy with us when she leaves." Addison ranted. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I'd be willing to be that she's worried you are going to replace her with the new baby when she moves away to school. She's old enough to see you with Grace and she sees the difference between your relationship with Grace and your relationship with her and Lily. But I think she's not thinking about how much you and Derek love her." Kathleen offered her opinion.

"I do love her. I am her mother. I want her to always, always remember her mother, but it's been 10 years and for those 10 years, I've been her mother. Why doesn't she get that?" Addison ranted more.

"Because she's a teenager." Nancy said bluntly. "And teenagers do everything they can to make you think they hate you and to be difficult."

"We ruined her trust in us with the affair and I feel so horrible and guilty for doing that." Addison said.

"You just need to show her you love her. Put aside some time to spend with just Kaitlyn before she leaves for college. And most importantly do not put a crib in the place of her bed. As long as she knows there is a place for her to come home to, I think she'll be alright." Kathleen said.

"Addison, are you maybe upset about Kaitlyn leaving and making this more dramatic than it actually is?" Nancy asked.

"Maybe just a little. Okay maybe a lot." Addison started crying. Nancy and Kathleen laughed. "I can't help it, it's the hormones." Addison said smiling through her tears.

"I can't imagine what it's going to be like when Colleen goes to college next year." Kathleen said.

"I can. Lots and lots of tears." Nancy said.

"Shut up." Kathleen said. "Just wait until yours are ready to go."

"How do you make your seventeen year old happy about a new baby?" Addison asked them.

"She was very excited when Grace was born, she was excited when Mark's baby was born, she will be excited when the new baby is born. Give her time to work out all of her emotions." Kathleen said.

"You should have brought Kaitlyn." Nancy said. "Kathleen could have worked her shrink magic on her too." 

"Seriously." Addison said.

"We should probably go." Kathleen told them.

At the hospital…Addison, Nancy, and Kathleen walked up to the waiting area where Derek, Amelia, and Anna were sitting.

"Good morning everyone." Addison greeted them.

"Hey." Derek said standing up to kiss her. They all sat down together.

"How are things this morning?" Addison asked.

"Mom has to make a decision about chemo or finding someone to do the surgery." Derek told her.

"Is she competent?" Kathleen asked.

"She's been talking a lot more this morning and seems to know what's going on." Amelia told them.

"That's an improvement." Nancy said.

"I want to see her." Addison said.

"She'll be happy to see you. I'll go with you." Derek said. He stood up and Addison followed. They walked to Carolyn's room. "Mom, you have a visitor." Carolyn opened her eyes. Addison walked up to the bed and held Carolyn's hand.

"Addison." Carolyn said softly as she half smiled.

"Hey." Addison said. "How are you doing?"

"Better." Carolyn said. "Grace?" 

"I brought her. She's with Colleen right now. I'll try to bring her by later if they'll let me." Addison told her. Carolyn was happy.

"She has grown so much." Derek said. "She's also talking a lot more."

"Since your daughters all know, I'll share my news with you." Addison told her. "We're having a baby."

"Congratulations." Carolyn said with the biggest smile they've seen yet. Derek and Addison smiled back. "How's your girls?" Derek was surprised she was talking in a full sentence.

"They're great. They're both growing up. I think Kaitlyn's getting nervous about college though." Addison told her. Addison and Derek spent some more time with her until she fell asleep. They went back into the waiting area with Derek's sisters.

"How's she doing?" Anna asked.

"Pretty good. I think Addison brightened her day." Derek said.

"Did you tell Anna our news?" Addison asked.

"Nope." Derek said.

"Go ahead." Addison told him.

"Addison's pregnant." Derek said.

"Congratulations! Is that what made Mom so happy?" Anna asked.

"Potentially." Addison said.

"Derek. I have a plan." Amelia said. She explained her plan for surgery to Derek.

"I think that would work. Let's do it." Derek said.

"How?" Amelia asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll make some calls, but I don't know the chief of surgery at my old hospital anymore." Derek said

"There's always Seattle." Amelia said.

"You are not flying your mother to Seattle." Addison said firmly. "She is not stable enough to fly." 

"We don't have to fly." Amelia said.

"You are not driving her almost 3,000 miles. Who decided you were a doctor?" Addison asked joking.

"I actually think she could fly." Derek said. "She's a few days out of surgery now. She'd be flying with at least 3 doctors."

"Make some phone calls first." Addison said.

"Is this surgery really the right thing for her?" Kathleen asked.

"With this surgery, she could be cured. The cancer would be gone, all of it." Amelia said. "Chemo is only going to give her a little more time and make her really sick."

"Amy's right. If we leave the tumor in, she doesn't have much time left at all." Derek added.

"Well, there are five doctors here, all who have worked in a New York hospital, someone can find a connection to make this surgery happen without moving her 3,000 miles." Addison said. Her phone rang. "I should get this."

"Hi." Addison said answering her phone.

"_Hi. I'm sorry I was mad at you." _Kaitlyn said.

"I know. We all have a lot going on emotionally." Addison said.

"_I just want you to know that I'm happy about the new baby." _Kaitlyn told her.

"I know you are." Addison said.

"_Good." _Kaitlyn responded. _"I don't know if I want to go away to school anymore." _

"Kaity, you are going to be fine. You love New York. You grew up there. You are going to have an amazing experience at school. You'll still get to see us plenty. The baby is not going to take your place, I promise." Addison said.

"_I'm going to miss you too much." _Kaitlyn said.

"We will talk about this when I get home. You are going to school, but I promise you I'll make you want to go. You just have to let me talk to your dad first." Addison said.

"_Why am I always the last to know?"_ Kaitlyn whined.

"I just can't win with you, can I?" Addison said. Kaitlyn giggled. "We will finish this conversation at home, okay?"

"_Yup." _Kaitlyn said. _"I love you, Addie." _

"I love you too. Tell your dad to call if he wants an update. We just hanging out at the hospital all day." Addison said.

"_Okay. Bye." _Kaitlyn said.

"Bye." Addison responded. She walked back over and sat with everyone.

"Was that your teenager?" Nancy asked.

"Yes it was." Addison answered. "She's sorry for yesterday and she says she's happy about the baby."

"That's an improvement." Nancy said.

"What happened yesterday?" Derek asked.

"Kaity had a meltdown, mostly about leaving for college, I think, but we're going to deal with it at home." Addison said ended the conversation before them moving to New York accidentally slipped out.

"I'll go make some calls." Derek said. "You too, Amelia."

"I work here." Amelia said. "They already shot us down."

"Well, we need to find someone to help us." Derek said.

An hour later….They all came back slumping into chairs.

"No luck for me." Amelia said.

"Me either." Kathleen said.

"I found someone who might do it, but I don't know if that's what you want." Nancy said.

"I think I wasn't well loved when I left." Derek said.

"I think some of us need to take a break." Anna said. "I'm going to go see my kids."

"I think I will too." Kathleen said.

"Derek, you should go take Grace for a while." Addison said.

"But…" Derek said.

"But nothing." Nancy started to lecture. "Go spend time with your child."

"That could be fun." Derek said.

"Not could. Will be fun." Nancy said. "Go with them. Amelia, Addie, and I will stay."

They took turns sitting with Carolyn. The afternoon was starting to feel long. Addison walked back into the waiting room, rubbing her belly.

"Woah. Look at that belly." Amelia said.

"Ad, are you alright?" Nancy asked.

"I'm fine. " Addison said.

"You're holding your belly like you're in pain." Nancy said.

"Really. I'm fine." Addison said.

"I could check you out." Nancy offered. "Give you a tocolyic if you're contracting."

"I have a little bit of cramping. I'm only 15 weeks. There's nothing you can do. The baby and I are okay anyway. No spotting, no pain. I'm good." Addison said.

"Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl?" Amelia asked.

"I'm not sure." Addison said. "We found out last time. The problem is that I'll probably know whether or not I want to. I can read ultrasounds."

"One of the downfalls of being a doctor, I guess." Amelia said. Derek walked in the room with Kathleen. "They're back!"

"How's our baby?" Addison asked.

"She's good. She's with Anna." Derek informed her.

"I'll get her before bedtime." Addison said.

"Anna said she'd keep her as long as we want." Derek informed her. "I have a solution for surgery."

"What is it?" Amelia asked excited.

"Richard said that Amelia and I could do the surgery. We can wait a few days until mom is discharged and then…" Derek said.

"Derek. Is that really a good idea? Is taking your mom all the way to Seattle a good plan?" Addison asked.

"She'll be able to fly safely in a few days." Amelia added. "I say we go."

"All of us?" Kathleen asked.

"Everyone doesn't have to come." Amelia said. "We'll go, do the surgery, and bring her back like a week later."

"If all goes well." Nancy said. "If not, the rest of us are stuck here…"

"We have to think positively." Amelia said.

"We should do it." Kathleen said. "It will give her the best chance possible."

"If anyone can do it, they can." Addison said.

"We're going to Seattle!" Amelia said excitedly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for all of the reviews! Here's a short chapter. It might take me about a week to get another one up, I have a lot of work to do. Enjoy reading :) **

Derek and Amelia stepped out of the ambulance helping to push there mother on a stretcher into Seattle Grace hospital. Addison and the other sisters followed behind them.

"I told you flying was not good idea." Addison said upset.

"We need to get up to surgery fast." Derek said. They met Richard in the ER.

"How's she doing?" Richard asked.

"She collapsed getting off the plane and hasn't woken up. We need to do this surgery now." Derek said.

"OR 2 is open." Richard said. Derek and Amelia took off with Carolyn. Addison led the rest of them to the surgical waiting area.

"Is she going to survive this?" Anna asked.

"You have to have faith in Derek and Amy." Addison said.

"Dr. Shepherd." Alex called. Addison, Nancy, and Kathleen all turned around. "Montgomery-Shepherd."

"Yes." Addison said.

"I didn't know you were back." Alex said.

"I'm not." Addison said.

"Oh nevermind." Alex said.

"No what is it? Distract us." Addison told him.

"I was wondering if you could see my patient." Alex said.

"Tell me about her." Addison instructed.

"32 year old female, 24 weeks with twins She came in having five contractions per hour. She's 30% effaced. 2 cm dilated. She was started on terbutaline, which reduced the frequency of her contractions but, she's having severe side effects on it. She has a history of preterm labor and is refusing magnesium because of the way she felt last time. What else should we try?" Alex asked.

"How's her blood pressure?" Addison asked.

"117 over 78." Alex reported.

"Try nifedipine. You should also be giving her corticosteroids." Addison said.

"Thanks." Alex said and walked away.

"I thought we might have gotten to see a patient." Nancy said sadly.

"No I'm exhausted and we have one focus right now." Addison said. "Well, I probably should also check on my children."

"Grace is here." Anna said.

"I didn't tell Mark or the girls that we were coming back." Addison said.

"They'll survive another night." Nancy said. Izzie happened to walk past the waiting area.

"Iz! Baby!" Grace squealed. Izzie turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Izzie asked Addison and Grace.

"Derek and his sister decided they are the only ones who can do this surgery and brought their mother here." Addison told her.

"How's she doing?" Izzie asked.

"Overall, better I think." Addison said. She held her arms out to Nathan who happily came to here. "How was going back to work?"

"So difficult. I've been visiting him so much in daycare." Izzie told her.

"Baby." Grace said and rubbed his head. Nathan tried to grab her blanket. "Baby want blankie?"

"Are you sharing with Nathan? He loves you." Izzie said.

"She's going to be ready for her new sibling." Kathleen observed.

"When is surgery going to be done?" Izzie asked.

"They just started." Addison said. "It's probably going to be a while."

"Do you want me to take Grace for the night?" Izzie offered.

"Umm. I would love that actually." Addison said. "Can you just reassure Kaity and Lily that I will see them tomorrow? Especially Kaity."

"Sure. Kaitlyn's been in a mood." Izzie said.

"I know. She doesn't know what to think right now between the new baby, college, and what's going on now. I'll talk to her tomorrow." Addison said.

"Okay little ones. Are we ready?" Izzie asked taking Nathan.

"Do you want the mini van?" Addison asked

"Sure." Izzie said. Addison handed her keys and Grace. "I'll have Mark bring you back my car keys once we get the carseats straightened out."

"No rush. We aren't going anywhere." Addison said. Izzie walked away with the babies.

"Is that Mark's wife?" Anna asked.

"Yes and baby." Addison said. "I'm sorry. I should have introduced you." Cristina walked towards them.

"Dr. Shepherd said to tell you that the surgery is going to take longer than expected and there have been some difficulties but they are still expecting a good outcome." Cristina informed them.

"Thanks Yang." Addison said. Mark walked up to them as Cristina walked away.

"Well, well, well. Look at this crew." Mark said.

"Mark!" Nancy said, standing to hug him. He greeted each of them and hugged Addison last.

"How are you holding up?" Mark asked.

"I'm doing pretty good. I'm exhausted." Addison said.

"Where's Gracie?" Mark asked.

"Izzie has her." Addison said.

"Good thing I'm working tonight." Mark said.

"But Grace is so well-behaved." Kathleen said.

"Well, there are currently four kids in my house." Mark said.

"Oh get used to it. That's every day for all of us." Nancy said.

"I usually only have one." Mark said.

"So you should be home helping your wife." Nancy said.

"That's the benefit to these kids having a seventeen year old sister." Mark said.

"Are you working tomorrow?" Addison asked.

"Neither of us are." Mark said. "We can keep Grace all day if you want."

"Oh no. I'll come over in the morning. I need to see all of my girls. Derek and I need to talk to you about something." Addison said.

"We will be home all day." Mark said.

Later…They had all dozed off in the chairs. Nancy looked at her phone to see what time it was.

"We haven't heard anything in a while." Nancy said.

"I'll go see what's happening." Addison said standing up. She walked to the gallery of OR 2 and quietly entered the back to watch what was going on below.

"There's a lot of blood." Amelia said.

"We need to keep going." Derek said.

"Is this going to work?" Amelia asked.

"There's no going back now." Derek said. Addison sat down next to Meredith and Alex who were the only ones watching.

"How are Derek and Amelia doing?" Addison asked her.

"You shouldn't be here." Meredith said.

"We need to know something." Addison said.

"They're having trouble getting to the tumor without doing extra damage. Her pressure has bottomed out twice. I think it's getting to be too much for them." Meredith told her. Richard came in.

"Addie, what are you doing here?" Richard asked.

"I can't wait out there and not know anything." Addison said. "Besides, you let Derek and Amelia operate on their own mother, I think I can watch my mother-in-law's surgery." Machines started beeping. Addison stood up and walked to the window. She put her hands on her back while she was just standing there.

"Woah Dr. Shepherd." Alex said.

"What is it, Karev?" Addison asked.

"How come the gossip chain isn't talking about you?" Alex asked and Addison realized the way she was standing made her belly more prominent. She quickly put her arms at her sides.

"Why would they talk about me?" Addison asked trying to play dumb.

"He's not blind, Addie." Richard said.

"It does not leave this room." Addison said. "It's too early for me to share the news."

"You have to be in your second trimester." Alex said.

"I am. You don't know my difficult history though. I have had a miscarriage when I was farther along than this." Addison said.

"I didn't know. Sorry for outing you." Alex said.

"You didn't. I know it's getting hard to hide. So you're liking OB I take it?" Addison said.

"Now that doesn't leave this room." Alex said making Addison smile. There was a lot of commotion below bringing their attention back to the surgery.

"She's crashing." The nurse said.

"Just a few more minutes." Derek said panicking.

"You need to finish now." Someone said.

"Move over." Amelia said. She took Derek's place operating.

"Beginning compressions." The nurse announced.

"Get blood." Someone said.

"Hold compressions." Amelia said.

"She doesn't have a pulse." The nurse said.

"Hold compressions." Amelia said firmly. They all stared at her for a minute as she worked quickly and finally pulled out the tumor. "I got it." The whole room jumped into action trying to save Carolyn. They worked for several minutes with no change in her status. Addison was crying. Mark came up behind her and put his hand on her back.

"Addie, why are you watching?" Mark asked.

"I can't leave now." Addison said through tears. Mark hugged her.

"They'll save her. She'll be alright." Mark said. Addison's phone buzzed. She looked at it.

"It's Nancy. I've been gone a while now." Addison said.

"Don't say anything through a text." Mark told her.

"We have a pulse." They heard someone announce. Addison looked down and caught Derek's eye. They smiled at each other.

Addison returned to the waiting room and fell into a chair.

"You've been gone for over an hour." Nancy said.

"Over an hour of an emotional rollercoaster." Addison told them.

"How's the surgery going?" Kathleen asked.

"They got it all." Addison said. "Amelia did it. Just as mom was crashing, Amelia pulled the tumor out of her brain."

"She crashed?" Nancy asked surprised.

"She was down for twenty minutes. I was so afraid that after all of that we were going to lose her. It would have torn Derek apart. Amelia too. But she made it." Addison rambled.

"I'm so happy." Kathleen said.

"How's mom now?" Nancy asked.

"I have no idea. Derek and Amelia were closing up when I left." Addison said. "I'm exhausted."

"We all are." Anna said. "Exhausted and happy."

**Thanks for reading! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own it! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 8! I'm sorry it's been a long time since I updated. School is finished for the summer so without homework I'll be able to update, a lot too, I promise!**

Derek entered the waiting room where Addison and most of his sisters were now sleeping. Amelia followed.

"Hey." Kathleen said when he walked past her. "How's mom?" Derek sat down next to Addison.

"She's doing okay. She's sedated, but I'm expecting a full recovery. We're going to keep her sedated for the day to jumpstart the healing process." He answered. "How long have they all been sleeping?" 

"Pretty much since we found out the surgery was over." Kathleen responded.

"I wish I was sleeping." Amelia stated.

"We should all leave and get some rest." Derek suggested. "Mom's going to be fine for the next few hours." Addison opened her eyes and sat up.

"Hey." She smiled at him and he leaned in for a kiss.

"Let's go home?" He said.

"After we pick up our kids?" Addison asked.

"Of course." He responded smiling. He took keys out of his pocket, removed one, and handed it to Kathleen. "Make yourselves at home. We'll meet you there."

Addison and Derek walked into Mark and Izzie's house. Lily and Grace came running.

"I missed you!" Lily yelled, excited to see them. Derek picked her up and hugged her as Addison picked up Grace."

"We missed you too." Derek told her. Mark and Izzie came in the room.

"Thanks for taking Grace for the night." Addison said. "It made things much easier."

"How did things go?" Mark asked. Addison looked at Lily and didn't say anything.

"I'll take the kids upstairs to finish watching cartoons." Izzie offered taking Grace. "Come on Lily."

"It was touch and go, but Amelia and I got the whole tumor and she's stable right now." Derek filled him in.

"That's great." Mark responded. "I'll stop by and see her later."

"She's not awake yet, maybe later tonight or tomorrow." Derek told him.

"While we are all here, and alone, we have something we want to talk to you about." Addison said.

"Alright." Mark said.

"Derek and I have been talking for the last few days and we decided that we're going to move to New York." Addison said slowly, unsure of the reaction she was going to get from Mark. Mark didn't say anything.

"We miss our family. Grace should grow up knowing her grandmother, aunts, and cousins. We don't know how much time we have left with mom." Derek added. Kaitlyn walked in the room.

"You're back." She said.

"Kaity, please go upstairs with Izzie." Addison said.

"I get left out of everything!" She yelled storming off.

"Mark, say something." Addison begged.

"We're family, Addison. You, me, Derek, all of the kids. We're family. You're going to leave us behind?" Mark stated angrily.

"I know. We are a family. We plan on making the trip to visit all of the time, plus Kaity will be in New York for school. We won't move right away. It will take a few months to get everything in order and find a house and jobs. Besides, you love New York and hate Seattle, what's stopping you from coming too?" Addison reasoned with him.

"What about Lily?" Mark asked. "Are you going to abandon her?"

"Lily was the biggest thing that's been holding me back. Derek asked me to move back before. She's older now and she lives with you full-time. I'll visit her and she can visit me, just not as often as we do now." Addison said.

"She's going to be extremely upset." Mark said.

"I know so please don't tell her yet." Addison asked. "You're an awesome father. She'll be fine here with you."

"Trying to butter me up?" Mark joked. Addison smiled in return.

"Now give me back my children." She ordered.

"Who do you want?" Mark asked.

"Anyone who wants to spend some time with us and Derek's sisters." Addison responded.

"They're up in our bedroom." Mark said. Addison went upstairs. "Do you want some coffee? You look like you haven't slept in days."

"That's because I haven't." Derek said.

Addison walked into Izzie and Mark's bedroom. The kids were bouncing on the bed while Kaitlyn and Izzie tried to catch them.

"I'm going home. Who wants to come?" Addison asked.

"Me!" Lily said as she jumped off the bed.

"Kaity?" Addison asked.

"Sure whatever." Kaitlyn said with attitude walking out of the room. Addison grabbed her arm as she walked by.

"I can tell you right now that I'm not going to put up with any attitude out of you today. We had a few long days and barely slept last night. Go get your stuff together and lose the attitude before you get in the car." Addison lectured her. Kaitlyn left without saying anything else. "Did she act like that for you?"

"No. She's been really helpful with the little ones, pleasant, and fun." Izzie informed her.

"She hates me." Addison stated.

"She doesn't hate you. She loves you. That's why she's difficult for you." Izzie said.

"Nice way of showing love." Addison put her arms out to take Grace from Izzie. "Let's go home Gracie."

"No. Iz." Grace held onto Izzie and shook her head.

"Not you too." Addison said. "Mommy can't deal with difficult children today." Addison tickled Grace and took her from Izzie while she was laughing. "Ready Lily?"

"Yup." Lily said walking out of the room.

"I'll bring her back to you before bedtime. Is that okay?" Addison asked Izzie as they walked down the stairs.

"Yeah or we can come get her." Izzie offered.

"We'll talk later." Addison said.

"Sounds good. How's Derek's mom?" Izzie asked.

"Doing okay right now." Addison informed her.

"Ready?" Derek asked when the got down the stairs.

"Yup. Your sisters are probably waiting." Addison said.

Addison and Derek walked into their house with the girls. His sisters were in the kitchen making brunch.

"Hi girls!" Nancy said.

"Hi! Did you bring Paige and Rosie?" Lily asked her.

"Not this time. You can visit us soon though." Nancy responded.

"The food is almost ready." Kathleen announced.

"I'm going to sleep. I need to go back to the hospital in the afternoon." Derek said. "Goodnight everyone." He left the room and went upstairs.

"Anyone else who wants to nap can take over Kaitlyn and Lily's room or the basement." Addison told them. Kaitlyn stormed outside.

"Apparently your moody teenager takes issue with that." Nancy said.

"Apparently." Addison responded. "However, she did not come over to be in her room all day and I already told her to leave the attitude behind."

"I'll go talk to her." Kathleen offered.

"Yeah , let Kathleen work her shrink magic." Amelia said.

Kaitlyn was sitting in a chair on the deck eating her lunch alone. Kathleen carried a plate of food out and sat down next to Kaitlyn.

"I heard you're going to have another little sibling." Kathleen said trying to start conversation.

"Yeah." Kaitlyn said unhappily.

"Are you excited?" Kathleen asked.

"Not really." Kaitlyn answered honestly.

"Why not? You can tell me anything." Kathleen asked.

"It's okay I guess. I knew they would have their own family someday." Kaitlyn said.

"What do you mean by their own family?" Kathleen asked.

"Addie, Derek, kids of their own." Kaitlyn said as if it was obvious.

"You know how much Addie loves babies and that she's always wanted to have kids. Aren't you happy for them?" Kathleen continued the conversation.

"Yeah. I mean I love Grace just like I love Lily and Nathan." Kaitlyn told her.

"So what's the problem with the new baby?" Kathleen asked. "I'm sure you'll love him or her as much as the rest of the kids."

"With Grace, Addie still has time to be my mom and Lily's mom, but soon they'll have two kids, little kids, and jobs. They'll barely have time for their own kids let alone me and Lily. We're going to end up back with my dad, which never works. Lily's already there most of the time, did you know that? Plus I'm going away to college so I'll leave, Lily's gone, and they'll replace us with the new baby." Kaitlyn opened up to Kathleen.

"They aren't going to replace you with a new baby. I know that for a fact. Addison and Derek love you so much. Addison considers herself your mom. She will forever have a place for you in her heart and her home. And I know that going away to college is scary, but it's part of growing up. You'll love the freedom and I bet you find out you love your family and home even more than you think you do." Kathleen tried to comfort Kaitlyn.

"How do you know they aren't replacing me?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Addison told me just yesterday about how much she loves you and how she thinks of herself as your mom. She also told me about how you like to use the fact that she's not your biological mother against her. It really hurts her when you tell her that she's not your mom." Kathleen lectured.

"I just need time to see it I guess." Kaitlyn said.

"You need to just trust that they love you." Kathleen said.

"It's hard to sometimes." Kaitlyn said.

"Why do you have a hard time trusting them?" Kathleen asked.

"One time, Addie and my dad, and Derek ruined my life. It was hard to be able to trust them and be around them again. Sometimes I'm just waiting for them to hurt me again." Kaitlyn told her.

"Emotionally or physically?" Kathleen asked.

"Emotionally. They would never beat me." Kaitlyn said as if it was obvious. "With the affair you know. I lost them all at once."

"They all have always loved you. I don't think that they realized how much that would affect you before they did it." Kathleen said.

"And what makes you think they won't do it again?" Kaitlyn asked.

"People make mistakes all of time. I'm sure you've made mistakes before. The best part of making mistakes is that you learn from them and the lesson usually follows you through life." Kathleen told Kaitlyn. "I honestly believe that they learned their lesson and I think this time Addison and Derek are married for good. They love you Kaitlyn, they really do. They aren't trying to replace you with a new baby, they are just expanding their love. Trust me, I have four kids, there's enough love to go around." Kaitlyn smiled.

"Thanks for caring enough to talk to me." Kaitlyn said.

"Of course. That's what we are here for. You know, we all consider ourselves your aunts. You can come to us anytime, especially when your parents are driving you crazy." Kathleen said making Kaitlyn smile again. "You are an extremely loved kid. I know it's fun to be a moody teenager, but maybe for the next few days you could take it easy on Addie and Derek and show them how much you love them, they're having a hard time right now with our mom and all."

"I really hope she gets better." Kaitlyn said.

"Me too." Kathleen said smiling.

Kaitlyn walked back into the kitchen followed by Kathleen. Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around Addison. Addison hugged her in return.

"I love you, Addie."

"I love you too, Kaity." Addison kissed her forehead. "Are you okay?"

"Yup." Kaitlyn responded and left the room.

"What did you do to my child?" Addison asked Kathleen.

"I just talked to her honestly." Kathleen said.

"She worked her shrink magic." Amelia said.

"What did she say to you?" Addison asked.

"I don't want to betray her trust. She's having a hard time trusting that you are going to love her and have a place for her after the new baby is born. I'm not going to tell you everything she said to me, but I think you need to make it clear to her that you do love her and you will always love her." Kathleen offered her advice.

"She doesn't know how much I love her?" Addison asked surprised and worried.

"She does, I think. She just needs to be reminded a little more often than the other kids. She's old enough to imagine a reality where you might not have time for her with, as she says, 'two kids of your own' and you have hurt her before, which she has not forgotten." Kathleen answered. "I know you have a lot going on right now. Just give her some extra attention before she leaves for college."

"I may not have given birth to her, but I'm her mom. How do I make her see that?" Addison asked angrily.

"She sees it. She really does. She's just an emotional roller coaster and having trouble adjusting all of the changes happening this year. She needs you to be her mother and love her. She's worried you're going to send her to live with Mark like you did with Lily." Kathleen told Addison.

"I didn't send Lily to live with Mark. He's her father and he wanted more time with her." Addison argued.

"I get that, but Kaitlyn…Look she's just worried. She's moody as a defense because she doesn't want anything to change. I'm here to help you. We can talk. Kaitlyn and I can talk more. I can help you talk to Kaitlyn, but getting defensive right here, right now isn't going to help you. Everyone's tired and stressed out. Let's revisit it all tomorrow after some sleep. " Derek came into the kitchen interrupting the conversation. He saw how upset Addison was, put his arm around her, and kissed her temple.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked her.

"We'll talk about it later." She responded quickly. "Why are you up already?"

"I have to go back to the hospital." He answered.

"Is it mom? What's wrong?" All of his sisters asked, worried.

"They're having trouble keeping her sedated and calm, so I'm going to see what I can do." Derek said.

"Do you want someone to go with you?" Anna asked.

"Sure." Derek replied.

"I'll get my stuff." Anna said.

"I'm coming too." Amelia said firmly.

"No you stay and sleep and you can take over when I need to come back home." Derek said.

"I'll trade places with you this evening. You really need to let yourself have a break." Addison lectured him.

"Yes dear." Derek responded. He left with Anna to go to the hospital.

Derek and Anna were sitting in the room with their mom.

"I need to go to the grocery store." Carolyn said confused and trying to sit up. Derek went over to the side of the bed to prevent her from getting up. "Derek! When did you get here? Did you bring Addie?"

"Mom, you're in the hospital. We brought you to Seattle to take out your tumor. You just had brain surgery. You really need to stay in bed and rest." Derek tried to orient her.

"Seattle? No we're in New York." Carolyn said.

"No mom, we're in Seattle." Anna said trying to help.

"I'll go get her some more medicine." Derek told them. He gave Carolyn more medicine to calm her down and got her settled in bed. Addison, Nancy, Kathleen, and Amelia walked in. Addison stood behind Derek and put her arms around him.

"How's she doing?" Addison asked.

"She keeps waking up confused, but besides that she seems okay." Derek responded.

"I promised Kaitlyn that she would only be alone with Grace for half an hour." Addison said. "So that means you need to get going."

"Grace isn't in bed?" Derek asked.

"She is. Kaitlyn just doesn't want to be in charge. Mark has Lily. So really you just have to go home and get in bed." Addison told him. A nurse walked into the room.

"Dr. Shepherd," the nurse said and almost everyone turned around, "I hate to kick anyone out but you really have too many people in here."

"We are just changing shift. Some of us are leaving right now." Derek told her.

Addison, Amelia, Nancy, and Kathleen sat in room with Carolyn. Addison had her head in her hand and was rubbing her belly with the other hand.

"Addie, are you okay?" Amelia asked causing Nancy and Kathleen to look up.

"I'm okay." Addison responded quietly.

"Ad, are you sure? You look like you're in pain." Nancy said gently as she moved over next to Addison.

"I'm having a little cramping." Addison decided to be honest with her.

"How much cramping?" Nancy asked. At that moment, machines started beeping causing all of them to look at Carolyn.

"Her pressure is dropping." Amelia stated.

"Push the emergency call button." Addison instructed. They all stood up around the bed. A nurse came in. "Lets get 1 mg of atropine on board."

"I thought she is the other Dr. Shepherd's patient." The nurse said confused.

"She is and she's also the other Dr. Shepherd's mother." Addison said making the nurse get into action. Addison looked up at Carolyn's head and saw blood coming through the bandages. "Amelia." Amelia looked at Addison and then looked where Addison was looking.

"She needs to go back into surgery." Amelia said concerned. Addison used the bed for support as she doubled over in pain.

"Someone call my husband." Addison said. She looked down and saw blood trickling down her own leg. "And someone page OB."

**I hope you enjoyed it! I'll have more up in the next few days. Let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own it! **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, it makes me want to write more! This chapter starts exactly where the last one left off. **

Amelia unlocked the wheels of Carolyn's hospital bed and began to move her. Richard walked in the room.

"Fill me in people." Richard declared.

"She's bleeding and needs to go back to surgery now." Amelia announced.

"Derek's on his way." Richard stated.

"We don't have time to wait for Derek. She needs surgery now. Give me privileges." Amelia instructed.

"I let you operate on your own mother once, but I barely know you." Richard responded unsure of what to do.

"She'll lose brain function if we wait." Amelia argued. "Let me start and Derek can take over when he gets here."

"Fine. Go." Richard gave her permission. They wheeled Carolyn out of the room and a moment later Izzie walked in.

"Someone called for.." Izzie said as she looked up and saw who was in the room. "OB." She trailed off realizing who needed the consult.

"Who needs OB?" Richard asked.

"I do." Addison said.

"Are you alright?" Richard asked concerned for his good friend.

"No." Addison responded with tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Don't tell Derek until after their mother is stable." Izzie squatted in front of the chair Addison was sitting in.

"What's wrong Addison?" Izzie asked gently.

"Let's get her into a bed and do an ultrasound. I think she's having a miscarriage." Nancy said. They took Addison to her own room and got her situated. Nancy put her hand on Addison's belly.

"You feel like you're contracting." Nancy said softly. Addison nodded. Izzie brought in the ultrasound machine and scanned her belly for a few minutes.

"I can't find a heartbeat." Izzie announced.

"Let me try." Nancy said. Izzie looked at Addison for permission.

"She's an OB." Addison said and Izzie let Nancy take over. Nancy looked for a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry, Addie." Nancy told Addison confirming what Izzie said.

"Your cervix is dilated, you're contracting, and we can't find a heartbeat. We'll give you a little time to let it happen naturally while we monitor you." Izzie said to Addison. "Do you want me to find Derek?" 

"No. Someone can bring him in here after he's done with his mom." Addison said. Kathleen took Addison's hand.

"I'm sorry. I know how excited you were." Kathleen said to Addison.

Derek entered the OR where Amelia was working quickly to control the bleeding.

"Where are we at?" Derek asked taking over for Amelia.

"Her blood pressure bottomed out. She coded and we got her back and then Addison noticed how much blood was on the bandage. I've been trying to control the bleeding, but I just can't figure out where it's coming from." Amelia filled him in.

"Her pressure is dropping again." The nurse announced.

"Hang two more units of packed RBCs." Derek ordered. Derek started working with Amelia assisting.

Izzie wandered into the gallery of the OR. Meredith was sitting there watching.

"How's it going?" Izzie asked.

"They're doing okay. Amelia couldn't find the bleeding at first, but now I'm sure Derek has it under control." Meredith answered.

"So she's going to make it?" Izzie asked for confirmation.

"As long as they can get this bleeding under control." Meredith answered. "But I don't know how much damage will be done."

"When Derek comes out of surgery can you send him to room 2205? Tell him it's Addison." Izzie asked.

"Is she okay?" Meredith wanted to know.

"She will be." Izzie answered.

Hours later…Meredith met Derek in the scrub room after surgery.

"Hey." Meredith said.

"Hey." Derek responded.

"There's something you need to know." Meredith said.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"Addison's in room 2205." Derek looked at her wondering why that was so important. "As the patient." Meredith added. "That's really all Izzie would tell me."

"Thanks." Derek said as he ran off to see Addison. He entered the room out of breath and saw Addison in bed with an IV in one arm and hooked up to a monitor. "What happened?" Derek asked gently as he rubbed Addison's head.

"I lost the baby." Addison responded breaking down into tears. Derek held her close. "I shouldn't have gotten so attached based on our history you know, but we have Grace, I thought everything would be okay this time."

"Everything will be okay." He reassured her.

"We'll leave you alone for a while." Nancy said as she left the room with Kathleen. Derek followed them out in the hall. 

"Wait." He said and they turned around. "Is Addie really going to be okay?"

"Yeah." Nancy responded. "They're just watching her in case her body doesn't complete the miscarriage on its own and she needs a D&C. How's mom?"

"We stopped the bleeding. She's in recovery. We're just going to have to wait and see." Derek informed them. "What time is it?"

"About 3:30 am." Kathleen answered.

"I left Anna home with Kaitlyn and Grace, but can you make sure they're okay around 7? I just want to be there for Addison right now." Derek asked.

"Of course." Kathleen said. She kissed his cheek and they headed to the waiting room as Derek went back to Addison.

Izzie entered the room a few hours later. She woke Derek and Addison who had fallen asleep.

"Sorry to wake you. I need to check you." She said to Addison. She examined Addison. "You're doing really good. The bleeding is slowing down so you can go home this afternoon if things continue the way they are."

"Thanks Izzie." Addison said in a monotone. Derek glanced at the clock.

"I should go check on my mom." Derek announced getting up.

"I heard she's doing really well." Izzie told him.

"Good. I'll be back babe." He said as he left the room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Izzie asked Addison. "I'm here if you do."

"Thanks. I'm okay. Really. This is not the first time I've been through this. I got false hope basing expecting this pregnancy to be just like Grace's." Addison told her.

"I'm off in half an hour, can I help you with the kids?" Izzie offered.

"Sleep first then talk to Derek. His sisters are all here so we have some help." Addison said.

Derek went into his mom's room where three of his sisters were sitting.

"How's mom?" He asked.

"So much better. Her vitals have been stable all night. No signs of bleeding. We're just waiting for her to wake up." Amelia filled him in.

"That's good." Derek said.

"How's Addie?" Nancy asked.

"The bleeding slowed down. It doesn't look like she's going to need the D&C. She'll probably come home this evening." Derek replied.

"How's Addie emotionally?" Nancy clarified.

"She's not really talking about it." Derek answered. "I think I'm going to go home and see my girls for a little while and give Anna a chance to see mom, then maybe one of you could watch the kids and give me some time with Addie."

"Definitely." Nancy said reassuring him that they could help.

Later…Derek walked through the halls with Grace and Kaitlyn. He found Nancy and Kathleen in the waiting room.

"We would have come to your house." Kathleen said.

"It's okay. I brought Kaitlyn to see Addison, then you can take them home and watch them." Derek said. "Here." He handed her Grace. "Take the baby for a while." Kathleen took her.

"Sure." Kathleen said.

Derek took Kaitlyn into Addison's room. Addison was sitting up in bed watching tv and smiled when she saw Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn started crying when she saw Addison in a hospital bed.

"Come here." Addison said with her arms open. Kaitlyn climbed on the bed and let Addison hug her. "Did you tell her?" She asked Derek.

"No. All I said was that you were here." Derek said.

"Kaity. Kaity, look at me." Addison begged. Kaitlyn looked up. "Why are you crying?"

"Are you dying?" Kaitlyn asked. Addison smiled.

"Nope you're stuck with me." Addison said.

"Everyone I've ever visited in the hospital has died. I mean except for having a baby. I thought Derek was bringing me here to tell me you're dying." Kaitlyn said.

"I'm not dying, but I will tell you why I'm here." Addison reassured her. "Since you found out that I was pregnant, you should know that I had a miscarriage. The baby died. But I am okay. I'm just here as a precaution." Kaitlyn stormed out of the room crying. She sat in the corner the waiting room because she didn't know where else to go. Kathleen moved to the chair next to her.

"Did something upset you?" Kathleen asked gently.

"I didn't want that baby. I wished it did not exist and now it's dead. It's all my fault. I wished it and it happened and Addie is going to hate me." Kaitlyn cried.

"First of all, it is not your fault. Miscarriages happen on their own and most of the time no one knows why, but it is definitely not your fault. Addie has a history of miscarriages, I can promise you that you did not cause it." Kathleen tried to calm her. "Secondly, Addison does not and will not hate you. Ever. You're her child, she will love you forever."

Derek walked into the waiting room and saw Kathleen talking to Kaitlyn. He leaned against the doorway and watched.

"Dada!" Grace squealed. Nancy looked over and saw him.

"I think Kathleen has it under control." Nancy told him. Derek sat down next to Nancy.

"Life is never calm in the Shepherd-Sloan household." Derek said rubbing his face with his hands. "Kaitlyn's really been giving Addison a lot of trouble lately."

"She's a teenager. She's supposed to cause trouble." Nancy reassured him.

"She's supposed to be our easy one." Derek told her. They sat together silently while Grace played with her toys. "She thought Addison was dying. She's spent so much time in hospitals with us and she thought that you go to the hospital to die."

"She's scared. There's a lot happening in her life right now." Nancy offered an opinion. "And for some reason, she likes Kathleen. She's been spilling her gut to Kathleen."

"At least she's talking to someone. It certainly hasn't been me, Addie, or Mark." Derek said.

"It's probably good for her to like Kathleen." Nancy said. Derek chuckled.

"Why? Because she's the psychiatrist?" Derek asked.

"No. Don't you think Kaitlyn should have someone she's comfortable with in New York in case of a problem when she goes to college?" Nancy said.

"I don't think that will be an issue, but, yes I am glad she's comfortable enough with my family to talk to Kathleen like she is." Derek responded.

"What do you mean that won't be an issue?" Nancy asked suspiciously.

"We'll talk about that later." Derek said attempting to end the conversation.

"Derek. You're hiding something." Nancy accused. Kathleen and Kaitlyn walked over to them at that moment, saving Derek from having to answer Nancy.

"Kaitlyn would like to talk with you and Addie, if Addie's up to it." Kathleen announced to Derek.

"Okay. Let's go see what Addison says. Kaity, you know you can tell us anything anytime." Derek said trying to be supportive.

They walked into Addison's room.

"Kaitlyn has some things she would like to talk to you about. Are you up to it?" Kathleen asked.

"I'm always up to talking to Kaitlyn." Addison responded. Kathleen dragged over a chair and sat towards the end of the bed. Kaitlyn sat on the end of the bed and Derek sat next to Addison's head, taking her hand in his.

"Before we start, I just want everyone to agree that this is a safe zone. Everyone is allowed to say anything they are thinking without being afraid of judgment or punishment from anyone else." Kathleen set some ground rules and they all agreed. "You're up." She said to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn sat there silently for a minute looking at all of them. "Tell them what we talked about."

"I'm afraid I'm going to be left out when I move to college." Kaitlyn started talking.

"Kaity." Addison said but was interrupted by Kathleen.

"Let her finish."

"I'm going to be all the way across the country with most of my stuff. I thought you were going to replace me with the new baby, especially because Lily lives with dad now. You would be a family, just you guys, Grace, and the baby. There isn't a spot for friend's daughter. So I wished the baby did not exist and now I feel guilty. It's all my fault." Kaitlyn recited her speech to them. "I'm not going to be needed. Will you still have room for me? Will you still love me from 3,000 miles away when you have your own kids who need your attention?"

"Kaitlyn, we will always love you." Addison said.

"You are a part of our family. You have always been a part of our family and you always will be a part of our family." Derek added.

"We know that you are not our child biologically, but we consider ourselves your parents. We may have more kids now, but I feel like you're my first born. We never intended for you to feel like you were going to be replaced by a new baby. You could never be replace and you will always have a spot in our home. " Addison told her.

"You will always be needed. Without you who's going to keep me and your dad in line?" Derek joked. "Who's going to be an awesome big sister to Lily, Grace, and Nathan? Who's going to have girls night with Addison when she needs a break from the little kids? You have lots of jobs in our family that can't be filled by anyone else."

"I also want you to know. I need you to understand. This is so important Kaitlyn. You did not cause my miscarriage in any way. These things just happen and we can't fix them. You had nothing to do with it. I get that this baby was going to once again turn your world upside down at time when you have a lot of other changes and you may not be excited about it so you wished you weren't going to have a new sibling. I get that those thoughts may make you feel guilty right now, but please, please don't blame yourself. It is not your fault." Addison explained.

"I think I know that." Kaitlyn said.

"I really need you to understand that. I also know that you aren't one of the little kids and you aren't one of the parents and sometimes you feel left out from everything so I'm going to tell you something, but I need you to promise to keep it a secret from everyone outside of this room. This is a grown-up decision we are including you in." Addison told her.

"Okay." Kaitlyn said.

"We're going to move to New York this fall." Addison announced.

"Really?!" Kaitlyn asked excited.

"Really." Addison confirmed. "But you have to promise not to talk about it. It's really exciting for you, but it's going to be really hard for Lily."

"How can you leave Lily behind?" Kaitlyn asked upset.

"She lives with your dad now. Your dad may not have been the best dad when you were Lily's age, but he has improved a whole lot and is doing a great job being a dad. She has Izzie to do some mom things for her too. She doesn't need me as much as you do." Addison explained. "Plus I fully intend to see her frequently."

"That's true." Kaitlyn confirmed.

"Number 1, I want you to know how much I love you. I can't even explain to you how much I love you. More than words. Number 2, I want you to know that you can always talk to me, Derek, your dad, or Izzie about anything at all. Don't worry about our feelings or getting in trouble, it's more important to talk about our issues. You also really need to understand that my miscarriage is not your fault. Okay?" Addison asked for confirmation.

"Okay." Kaitlyn said.

"I could really use a hug." Addison said with a smile. Kaitlyn put one arm around Addison and one arm around Derek. They hugged her in return.

"I love you so much, Kaity." Addison said.

"Ditto." Derek said.

"I love you guys too." Kaitlyn responded.

**I hope you still want to read!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own it! **

**Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!**

Addison stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom trying to put on enough makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes. Grace grabbed the cord of the hot curling iron.

"Grace. NO!" Addison yelled as she caught the curling iron. "Hot." Grace started bawling, upset that her mother yelled at her. Addison picked her up. "Kaitlyn!" She yelled as the phone started ringing. She picked it up without looking at the caller id. "Hello?"

"_Hey." _She heard Derek's voice on the other end.

"Where are you? I have to leave for work in five minutes." Addison said angrily.

"_I'm not going to make it home in time. I have a few things to wrap up here." _ Derek said in a monotone.

"One thing Derek. All you had to do was one thing. Be home by 7. You left the house at 5 am. That's 14 hours. You couldn't do it all then. For three weeks, I've been home all day taking care of your mom and the kids. I sleep for about two hours and then go to work all night." Addison argued.

"_I've been working and taking care of my mom and the kids too." _Derek stated.

"Sleeping while they all sleep all night does not count as taking care of them." Addison said.

"_I'll be home by 8." _Derek informed her.

"This is the last time I'm leaving Kaitlyn in charge of your mom and Grace." Addison said angrily. Kaitlyn walked in the room just as Addison said that. "I'll see you at work or at home in the morning." Addison added softly and hung up.

"It's okay. I don't mind watching Grace for an hour. It's bedtime anyway." Kaitlyn said taking Grace from Addison.

"Thanks, sweetheart. You're the best." She kissed Kaitlyn's forehead and Grace's cheek. "I need to go. See you in the morning." Addison said as she grabbed her bag. "Call if you need anything."

The next evening the doorbell rang. Addison opened the door to see Kathleen and Nancy standing there.

"I wasn't expecting you until late tonight." She said.

"We caught an early flight." Kathleen told her.

"Come in." Addison said opening the door wider for them. "Excuse our messy house." They looked around and saw clothes hung over the couch and toys all over the floor. The tables were covered in papers and medical journals.

"Ad, I mean this in the nicest way possible, you look like a wreck." Nancy said concerned.

"Gee thanks." Addison said sarcastically.

"I'm not being critical. I'm concerned. You're usually put together and have a spotless house. You also look like you haven't slept in weeks." Nancy observed.

"That's because I haven't." Addison stated honestly.

"Addie, you should have told us it was too much for you. We could have helped." Kathleen said.

"It shouldn't have been too much. There's supposed to be two people equally splitting the duties, but apparently in our house, I have to take care of everything during the day and then work night shift." Addison said bitterly.

"If you need me to kick Derek's butt, I will." Nancy offered making Addison smile.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm not working tonight so I can get a good night of sleep and you're taking your mom in a few days. We'll be okay." Addison explained.

"We are here to help now." Kathleen offered. "We can clean, cook, watch kids if you want to sleep."

"How about you visit your mom first.." Addison suggested.

Derek walked into the kitchen early the next morning. Addison was making breakfast.

"Good morning." Derek said, kissing her.

"Morning." Addison replied. "We'll drive together and leave your sisters the van?"

"Sure." Derek responded.

"Is something wrong?" Addison asked.

"No." Derek replied confused.

"Are you mad at me?" She wanted to know.

"No." Derek answered

"Then why have you been ignoring me?" She asked.

"I'm not ignoring you. We've been working opposite schedules and I'm tired, Addison." Derek argued.

"Just talk to me okay. I'm afraid we're going in the direction we were before the affair." Addison said. Derek was silent. "Just keep talking to me and tell me whatever is on your mind. And we need to be happy for Kaitlyn this weekend."

"I can't believe she's graduating from high school." Derek said. "It feels like just yesterday she was the little girl putting on dance shows in our living room." The phone rang. Addison picked it up quickly so it didn't wake the whole house.

"Hello?" Addison answered.

"_Our nanny cancelled. Neither one of us can stay home. We need the day off tomorrow. Please tell me one of you are off." _Izzie rambled.

"Good morning to you too, Iz." Addison said smiling.

"_Are you off?" _Izzie asked again quickly.

"No, we are both working too so we have tomorrow off, but you can bring the kids over here. Derek's sisters are here." Addison offered.

"_Okay. We'll be there in five minutes." _Izzie said hurriedly. Nancy walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning." She greeted them while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"You're up early." Derek said.

"It's after 5." Nancy said as if that was a normal time to wake-up.

"Mark and Izzie's nanny cancelled so I volunteered you as babysitter. They'll be here in five minutes." Addison told her.

"Four kids can't be that hard." Nancy said.

"I should hope not. You have four of your own." Derek said.

A few minutes later, Mark and Izzie walked in the house with a sleeping baby and a very loud seven year old.

"Lily. Quieter. Everyone's sleeping." Izzie reminded her. Nancy, Addison, and Derek met them in the living room.

"Did you bring Paige and Rosie?" Lily asked Nancy.

"No hi Aunt Nancy, nice to see you?" Nancy joked with her. Lily giggled. "I had to leave them home again. I promise you can see them soon." Mark handed Lily a bag of bottles.

"Go put this in the fridge." He instructed her.

"Okay!" She said as she danced off to the kitchen.

"He should sleep for another hour. Everything you'll need is in the bag. You can call us anytime." Mark said.

"Kaitlyn knows what to do too." Addison added.

Mark walked down the hallway thinking about how he could get his work done quickly to get home earlier. Addison was reading a file and almost ran right into Mark.

"Hey." Mark said sticking his arms out to catch her before she ran into him.

"Sorry. I was reading this and didn't see you." Addison apologized.

"Obviously." Mark said. "Can you see my burn patient? She's pregnant."

"Yeah, sure. When we get home tonight, I have something to give you so stick around." Addison said.

"Okay." Mark said unsure of what she was talking about.

Meanwhile, at home, Nancy and Kathleen were managing the household. Nancy had Nathan on the changing table, attempting to change his diaper. Lily was standing on a stool watching. Nathan was squirming around half naked.

"You're not doing it right." Lily said in a sing-song voice.

"How can you change a diaper wrong?" Nancy asked.

"Well, first of all, you should have used the strap to hold him still." Lily lectured. "Also you're supposed to cover him up with the burp cloth so he doesn't pee on you." At that moment, Nathan started peeing and got Nancy. Lily giggled. "I told you."

"I guess I'm out of practice." Nancy told her.

Derek walked up to Addison when she was standing at the desk writing in a chart. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. She smiled.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks." Derek said.

"We haven't worked together in weeks." She said turning around to face him.

"I know I sounded absent this morning. Our life is chaotic right now. And we lost a baby, not just you, Addie. We did. I let you mope around the house for a week while you recovered, and I stayed strong for you. Now I need time to grieve." Derek explained. Addison nodded.

"Okay. It's just, we need to act differently this time. We have to stay strong together. We cannot repeat last time." Addison said. Their pagers went off. "Keeping talking to me." She said before they went their separate ways.

At home, Kathleen was sitting on the couch trying to feed Nathan a bottle. He was getting fussier and fussier and wouldn't take the bottle.

"You're not doing it right." Lily said in a sing-song voice.

"Listen to her." Nancy interrupted before Kathleen could defend herself. "She knows what she's doing. I already went through this a few times today."

"Just give me him. I'll do it." Lily said sitting down next to Kathleen. Nancy couldn't help but laugh a little bit at Lily's bossiness. Kathleen put the baby in her arms and Lily stuck the bottle in his mouth. He instantly calmed down and started drinking his bottle.

Derek, Mark, Izzie, and Addison stood outside the patient's room.

"She needs surgery now." Derek announced.

"How did we all end up with the same patient at the end of our shift?" Izzie questioned.

"I agree she needs surgery now." Mark said.

"The baby's okay right now and isn't in danger as long as she's stable." Addison stated.

"We might as well get it over with now so we can make it to graduation tomorrow." Mark debated.

"Oh I agree." Addison said. "I was just saying that you don't need me."

"The baby still needs to be monitored though." Izzie said.

"Sorry, Iz. I'm pulling rank." Addison said.

"Gee thanks." Izzie replied.

"I'll take care of your child though. I just… There's some things I need to do." Addison said.

"And you should be there for Kaitlyn." Izzie said.

"Is there something you want to share with the class? You've been weird all day." Mark questioned her behavior.

"I'll show you when you get home." Addison said with a smile.

"Let's go get started then." Derek said.

The front door of the house shut. Addison dropped her keys on the table and put her bag on the floor. She heard the baby crying. Lily and Grace came running to the door followed by Kaitlyn.

"You're home!" Lily exclaimed hugging Addison.

"Home!" Grace said hugging Addison's leg. Addison bent down to hug and kiss both of them.

"I missed you guys today." Addison said.

"We missed you too." Nancy said handing her the screaming baby. Addison laughed.

"How was your day?" She asked sarcastically. She sat on the couch with the baby and the rest of the kids swarmed her. "Can you get me his blankie?" She asked Lily.

"Sure." Lily said. She ran off and came back with a blanket a minute later. Addison swaddled the baby in the blanket and cradled him. He instantly stopped crying.

"He's been crying for a good hour and you walk in and he's better?" Nancy said sounding exhausted.

"Don't listen to her. We were fine all day." Kathleen added.

"I mean the kids are alive, happy, and recently bathed. What more could I ask for?" Addison said.

"Yeah that was all Kaitlyn." Nancy told her as she sat down in the armchair.

"They don't know what they're doing." Lily added making everyone laugh. "What? The didn't." She said like it was obvious.

"Can I get ice cream with Will and some friends?" Kaitlyn asked.

"It sounds like you deserve some time out. What time are you going to be home?" Addison responded.

"Probably 10 at the latest. We're really just getting ice cream. I'm exhausted." Kaitlyn said.

"Yes. Go." Addison said.

"Thanks Addie." Kaitlyn said walking to the door.

"The car keys are on the table." Addison called after her.

"What else can we help you with?" Kathleen asked.

"Nothing. Really. I'm going to put them all to bed. You relax." Addison instructed.

Addison shut the door to Lily's room. The little kids were finally all asleep. She went into her room and pulled a keepsake box off of the top shelf of her closet. An envelope was taped to the top that said _'To Addison on Kaitlyn's high school graduation'_. Addison lifted off the top of the box and pulled out an already opened letter. She opened it six years ago, when she was really missing Elizabeth. She re-read the letter.

_Addie, _

_I knew you couldn't wait ten or eleven years to open this box. I started them with Kaitlyn's graduation because I wanted you all to learn how to live without me before reading them. There are letters in here for you, Mark, Derek, and especially Kaitlyn for all of the big moments of her adult life. I want her to know me, to know how much I love her, and I wanted to be able to give her advice after I'm gone. I don't know how old Kaitlyn is right now, is she 8, 13, or 17? I try to imagine what she looks like as a beautiful young woman and not a little girl. No matter how old she is, I know you are an important part of her life. Addie, promise me you'll be there for all of the mother's day teas, the fashion dilemmas, prom, her first boyfriend, her first kiss. Be there for me whenever she needs a mother. She's so little and has so much to learn. You and I both know that we can't leave it all up to Mark. Girls need their mamas. Love her as if she is your own child (I know you already do). Teach her to be a kind and caring person. Tell her how important education is, but make sure she still has fun in her life. Encourage her to be whatever she wants to be. Tell her stories about me and you so she knows me and understands how important you are to us. But most of all make sure she knows she has your love and support. Take care of Mark too. Don't let him get too depressed. Encourage him to date, but don't let him bring too many girls around Kaity. I know he's probably made a few stupid decisions by now, but stick by him. He needs you. You and Derek are his family. He needs family. And Addie, I want you to know that you mean the world to me. I can't imagine my life without you in it. You are a strong woman. I know you're going to be okay, you're all going to be okay. I'm sorry I can't be there to talk to when Derek's being a jerk and to hold your hand when you have your babies, that's why I'm writing these letters. Keep me in your memory and your heart. Take care of Kaity. _

_Love you forever and always, _

_Elizabeth_

Tears were falling down Addison's cheeks by the time she finished reading the letter. "She's amazing El," Addison whispered. She looked through the other letters. _'To Kaitlyn on your wedding day', 'To Derek on Kaitlyn's 21__st__ birthday', 'To Addie when you miss me most', 'To Mark on his 50__th__ birthday'_. She shuffled through the letters until she found ones for Kaitlyn's graduation. She took them out and put the box back on the top shelf. She stared at the one addressed to her and then placed it on her nightstand for the morning and brought the others downstairs with her.

Addison sat in the living room rocking Nathan when Kaitlyn came in.

"How was ice cream?" Addison asked.

"It was fun." Kaitlyn answered

"Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?" Addison asked.

"Yup." Kaitlyn said.

"I have something I want to give you tonight." Addison said. Kaitlyn sat down next her. Addison handed her the envelope. Kaitlyn read the front. "You can open it now or you can wait until tomorrow. I just thought you might want it tonight." Kaitlyn started opening the envelope.

"You wrote me a letter?" Kaitlyn asked pulling the letter out of the envelope.

"It's not from me." Addison said. Kaitlyn looked harder and recognized the handwriting.

"My mom?" Kaitlyn asked. Addison nodded.

_Kaitlyn, _

_Congratulations! You did it! Graduating from high school is a big accomplishment. I know you have grown into a kind, caring, strong, intelligent, beautiful young woman from this sweet little seven year old sleeping next to me. I wonder where you are going to college and what you want to be when you grow up. I wonder if you play sports or dance or play an instrument. I know you are amazing at whatever it is you are doing and I hope that you are doing something you love, not something someone else pushes you to do. As you go away to college, don't be afraid to try new things, you never know what you're going to like. Don't forget to be the kind, caring, loving person you were raised to be. Follow your dreams no matter what they are. Don't forget to call home every once in a while. Your dad, Addie, and Derek miss you! Appreciate how loved you are. From the moment you were born, you were surrounded by so much love. Let Addie fill in for me as your mother. Oh how I wish I could be there with you. Stand proudly on the stage today with your cap on your head as you receive you diploma. It took a lot of hard work to earn it. Congratulations on your big day! I love you, Kaitlyn, and have loved you every single day of your life, to the moon and back. _

_Love, _

_Mom_

Addison hugged Kaitlyn with her free arm. Kaitlyn looked up at Addison with tears in her eyes.

"You never told me she wrote letters." Kaitlyn said.

"She didn't want you to know until you were ready." Addison said.

"You decided I was ready tonight?" Kaitlyn asked.

"No, your mom decided you would be ready now. She wrote the first one for your graduation." Addison explained.

"We haven't talked about her in a long time." Kaitlyn said.

"I know. That's my fault. I should be talking about her more. But you know we have busy lives in the present and sometimes I don't remember that you don't know that much about her." Addison told her.

"I wish she could be there tomorrow. I know you're my mom now and all, but she's still my mother." Kaitlyn said.

"And I could never take her place. I just fill in for her when you need it." Addison said.

The sun shone brightly down on them as they sat in chairs outdoors watching the graduates walk across the stage. Mark's mind began to wander. He thought about the letter from Elizabeth, guilty that he didn't live up to the expectations she set for him as a father, but Kaitlyn did grow up into an amazing young woman.

_Mark, _

_You did it. She's an amazing young woman. I know Addie and Derek were a big part of that, but you raised an awesome kid. I know she's kind and caring. Strong, she's been through a lot already in her life. Intelligent, after all she is graduating from high school today. And I'm sure she's a beautiful young lady. I'm sure you had your struggles, but you became an awesome dad. Remind her she can be anything she wants to be and encourage her to follow her dreams. Help her to cherish the memories that we all had together, but don't let her dwell on her losses. And you, I hope you are happy. I hope you've found an amazing woman to spend your life with and be a role model for Kaity. Maybe you even have more kids. I always thought Kaity would love a younger sibling. I also know you've become a wonderful surgeon, but I hope that you take time away from your career for your family. _

_God Mark, I love you. I love you more than anything in the world, except for Kaitlyn. I can't imagine a world where we can't be together. I hope I didn't hurt you too much when my body gave in to cancer. Know that I fought like hell to stay with you and Kaitlyn. Live your life, remember me, but don't live in the past. _

_Congratulations on your amazing kid's accomplishments!_

_Love you more than life. _

_Love, _

_Elizabeth_

He looked over at Addie and Derek. They deserved as much if not more of the credit for Kaitlyn being the person she is today.

"Kaitlyn Margaret Sloan." They all cheered for Kaitlyn as she walked across the stage to get her diploma. She smiled at them proud of her accomplishment. Addison looked up at Kaitlyn and smiled. She looked just like her mother standing up there on the stage. Addison thought about Elizabeth and could practically hear her cheering along with them.

_Addie, _

_Thank you. Thank you for helping raise Kaitlyn to be a kind, intelligent, strong young woman. I know you were there for all of the school plays, picnics, parents nights, award ceremonies, concerts; you were there for it all. I know you stayed up late with her the night before tests helping her study and pushed her to do her work even when she thought she couldn't. For all that, I owe you a huge thanks. Thanks for being me when I couldn't. Congratulations on graduation day! Kaity wouldn't have made it there without you. _

_Love you forever and always, _

_Elizabeth_

**I hope you liked it!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**Thanks for the reviews! Once again sorry for the huge delay in posting. I hope you enjoy. There are at least 5 chapters that will be posted in the next two weeks, now that my computer is back and function**

Addison scooped the pancakes out of the frying pan and put them on plates.

"We're hungry," Lily whined from the table.

"I know sweetheart. I'm going as fast as I can," Addison attempted to stop the whining. Kaitlyn walked into the kitchen.

"Can we please go shopping today?" Kaitlyn asked Addison.

"I can't. I'm sorry. I'm working today." Addison told her.

"I'm moving to school in a week." Kaitlyn complained. "I need stuff."

"I know." Addison said placing plates of pancakes on the table. "I have a big surgery scheduled today. I'm probably going to be at work at least until 7."

"Seven?" Lily whined.

"Daddy or Izzie is going to get you this afternoon." Addison said.

"When can we go?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I don't know yet." Addison said.

"Maybe my dad can take me. But we know that won't go well." Kaitlyn said annoyed.

"I'll take you," Addison said firmly. "I'm really busy this week."

"You're always busy. Derek's never here," Kaitlyn stated.

"I'll tell you what. If you help me out with the kids for the next three days, I can get all of my work done. I'll take a few days off. We'll go to New York early. Just you and me if you want. We get everything you need there and then we won't have to take it on the plane." Addison tried to reason with her.

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Kaitlyn said.

"Okay. Here's the deal. Today the babysitter leaves at 4:30. I need you to watch Grace and maybe Lily until 7 at the latest. Derek or I will be home by 7," Addison promised her.

Addison saw Derek walking down the hallway in front of her.

"Derek." She called trying to get his attention. "Derek!" He didn't turn around. "Shepherd." He turned and went into an on call room. Addison walked in after him. "Did you not hear me calling your name?" Addison said angrily. He turned around.

"What?" Derek asked obliviously.

"Whatever." Addison said rolling her eyes. "If I run into any complications in my surgery, you have to be home by seven."

"I don't know if I can do that," Derek said.

"You've been here since yesterday morning. You can be home by 7. For your children, not for me," Addison yelled at him and then walked out the door.

Addison walked out of the OR. She pulled off her scrub cap and looked at the clock. Her cell phone rang.

"Addison Shepherd," she answered.

"Hi," Kaitlyn said.

"Hi sweetheart," Addison said, "I'll be home in a little bit. Are you calling to say goodnight?"

"I'm scared to sleep here alone," Kaitlyn told her.

"Derek didn't come home?" Addison asked.

"No. You promised you would be home by 7." Kaitlyn said.

"No, I promised someone would be home by 7 and I told Derek that he had to be if I wasn't out of surgery," Addison said really annoyed. "Is Grace asleep?"

"Yeah, she went to bed at 7:30," Kaitlyn informed her.

"Alright. I'll be home in half an hour. Lock all of the doors and get into my bed and put a movie on." Addison said.

"Okay," Kaitlyn responded.

"Will you be okay for half an hour?" Addison asked.

"I think so." Kaitlyn said.

Addison walked through the front door. She smiled when she saw all of the lights in the house on. She put down her keys and bag. She grabbed a glass of water and a snack from the kitchen and turned off the lights as she headed upstairs. She looked in on Grace, who was sound asleep in her crib. The bright light was on her room and she could hear the tv from the hallway.

"It's me," Addison announced herself as she entered the room so she didn't scare Kaitlyn. She looked at the bed and saw Kaitlyn sound asleep. She smiled and turned off the tv. She went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. Kaitlyn stirred as Addison sat down on the bed. Addison rubbed her head. "I'm home. Go back to sleep." Addison reached over and turned off the light before laying down. "Goodnight sweetheart."

Addison sat up when she heard someone moving around in the room.

"It's just me," Derek said.

"Where have you been?" Addison asked.

"At the hospital," Derek told her. Addison looked over at the clock.

"It's four am. You were supposed to be home at 7." Addison lectured.

"I had patients," Derek said walking over to his side of the bed and saw Kaitlyn. "You let her sleep here?"

"She called me at 10 and said she was too scared to sleep in the house alone. I told her to watch a movie in here until I got home and when I got home she was asleep so I left her." Addison argued. Kaitlyn started moving. "I'm not doing this at 4 am. Go sleep somewhere else."

Addison was making breakfast for Grace. She was dressed but her hair was still wet and she needed to put on make-up. Derek came in the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee in a travel mug.

"See you at work," he said kissing Addison on the cheek.

"Wait. You came home at 4 am after being gone for almost two days and you have to be at work already?" Addison yelled at him extremely annoyed. "You can't stay home for an extra hour and help with our child just one time this week?"

"I really have to go," Derek said.

"You really need to start thinking about what your priorities are." Addison said. Derek walked away.

Addison watched the fetal monitor as Derek operated on their patient's brain. Things had been touch and go.

"The baby's having decels." Addison said.

"I'm almost done," Derek announced.

"The baby can't handle any more surgery," Addison argued.

"Just give me a few more minutes," Derek said. Monitors started beeping.

"The brain is swelling. I can't control the bleeding. I'm going to have to remove this section." Derek announced.

"I'm taking the baby out," Addison said picking up a scalpel.

"Addison. Don't come near my patient with that scalpel." Derek yelled.

"That baby needs to come out and you know it," Addison said.

"The family wants the baby to stay in as long as possible," Derek agrued.

"The family wants the baby to live," Addison fought back.

"My patient wants to live," Derek said. "I need to take out more." 

"Derek, stop." Addison begged. "She can't live like that."

"She can." Derek said.

"No Derek she can't." Addison tried to reason with him.

"Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, the baby's heart rate is below 100." An intern announced.

"That's it. I'm taking the baby out," Addison announced and began a c-section.

Afterwards Addison and Derek were scrubbing their hands next to each other.

"What has gotten into you?" Addison asked. "We're partners Derek. We're partners at home and at work."

"I was trying to save my patient." Derek said.

"You're not acting like yourself. You knew she wasn't going to survive and that baby has a chance." Addison debated with him. "Think about if you still want to be partners." She dried her hands and walked away.

Later that evening, Addison was changing when Derek came in their room.

"You're home," Addison said surprised.

"Just for a few hours," Derek said.

"Do you want to be part of this family?" Addison yelled. "You can't help with the kids. They need you. I need you. You're my husband. I need to be able to spend time with you. I'm supposed to be able to talk to you. I'm supposed to see you other than just in the OR."

"I'm here right now. I came home to see the children. It's not my fault I've been busy." Derek argued.

"It is your fault. You're not the only neurosurgeon in the hospital. There are other people who can take some of the patients. You're not God, Derek." Addison yelled at him. "Are you having an affair?" She asked calmer.

"No, I'm not having an affair." Derek yelled. "I thought we trusted each other. I thought we were over all of that. I thought we were happy."

"We were happy. And then you check out. Weeks ago. You've been absent, physically and emotionally. You haven't been involved in the family in weeks. It takes two people to have a marriage. Two people. Maybe it's not meant to be." Addison said yelling at first and then softly at the end. They heard a noise from the hallway and both looked over to see Kaitlyn standing there holding Grace and Lily with her arm wrapped around Kaitlyn. All three of them were crying. Kaitlyn ran downstairs taking the little girls with her. Derek and Addison were silent.

"What did we do?" Addison asked upset. "Now do you get it? This. Whatever's going on is affecting our family, not just me." They looked at each other, both looking hurt. "I'm taking Kaitlyn to New York tomorrow to get ready for school. You need to be here for Grace. Right now, we need to pull it together, act like we like each other, and spend some time as a family for Kaitlyn."

Derek sat on the bed talking to Addison while she packed for New York.

"You promised me we weren't getting re-married just because we had a baby," Addison said.

"We didn't get re-married because of Grace. I wanted to married you because I love you more than anything else in the world. You're my best friend, my soul mate, the only person I want to spend my life with. The worst decision I ever made was letting you go the first time," Derek responded.

"So this is how you treat your best friend and soul mate?" Addison retorted.

"You haven't been much better," Derek snapped.

"I'm fighting for us," Addison argued. "You're acting absent."

"I'm working, Addison," Derek retorted.

"I'm working too and yet I manage to be home for our family," Addison argued.

"You aren't heading a department, doing several surgeries a day, and conducting a clinical trial. It's demanding," Derek countered.

"Maybe you shouldn't be doing a clinical trial if you can't balance work and home," Addison suggested.

"I want to do the clinical trial," Derek stated. Addison zipped her suitcase.

"You need to think about your priorities. Work or us," Addison said. "I'll be back on Saturday, you can let me know what you decide. I trust you are going to be home for Grace a little more while I'm gone?"

"Don't worry. I have two days off while you're away," Derek said.

"I love you," Addison said as she kissed him and left.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!**

Addison was folding clothes after putting Grace to bed. Derek came in from work late.

"Did you put her to bed already?" Derek asked upset.

"Yes. It's 8:30. She goes to sleep at 7. I kept her up for you until 8," Addison simply stated.

"I told you I wanted to put her to bed tonight. I'm trying to be more committed like you wanted," Derek argued.

"I want you to want to be here. I don't want to have to make you be here," Addison stated.

"I do want to be here. I told you I've had a lot going on at work," Derek said.

"It's always about work. Two weeks ago, we had this fight and I told you that you need to pick us or work. You need to make your decision." Addison yelled.

"If you would have let me talk to you instead of starting this fight, you would have found out that I was late because I quit the clinical trial," Derek yelled. "I handed it over to Robert. I'm going back to my old work schedule. I can be home for dinner. Most days," he explained. He wrapped his arms around Addison. "I was thinking we could take the weekend off, look at houses in New York, celebrate Grace's birthday. You still want to move, right?"

"You mean it? You really quit the trial?" Addison asked.

"I did." Derek said smiling.

"I do want to move. I miss New York," Addison said.

"Even if you're moving without Lily?" Derek clarified.

"Yes. She can visit us a lot. We will visit her. And Mark had a good point. Izzie will be starting a fellowship in a year and they may have to move for that." Addison explained.

"I'm going to make a call to Jim White tomorrow about a job," Derek said.

Addison, Derek, and Grace followed the realtor into the kitchen of the fifth house they looked at that day. 

"The kitchen is nice. The stove looks brand new," Derek commented.

"The family renovated the kitchen about six months ago," the realtor added.

"It's nice," Addison said not excited.

"You haven't liked anything all day." Derek said.

"I've liked them. They just don't feel right," Addison replied. "None of them feel like home."

"Let's take a break," Derek suggested. "We can go over Kathleen's house and look at more tomorrow. You're sure you want to move?"

Derek, Addison, and Grace went into Kathleen's house. They joined Kathleen, Nancy, and their husbands in the kitchen.

"So when is the move to New York happening?" Nancy asked.

"We looked at some houses today," Addison told them.

"Addison didn't like any of the perfectly good houses," Derek added.

"Sometimes it just doesn't feel right," Kathleen said.

"Yes! Thank you," Addison exclaimed.

"You could move into mom's house," Kathleen offered. "She's staying with me so her house is empty. It has a fully stocked playroom."

"We could do that if we don't find a house before the time comes to move," Addison said.

"If you live there, you could move next week," Nancy added.

"We need jobs," Addison said.

"You can have a job in my practice if you want it," Nancy offered.

"We would still have to wrap things up in Seattle." Addison said.

"You are really moving right?" Nancy asked.

"Yes we are," Addison confirmed.

"She's afraid of leaving Lily," Derek explained.

"I thought we could move in a month," Addison told them. Derek's phone rang. He took the call in the next room.

"I thought Lily lives with Mark full-time now," Kathleen said.

"She does, but I see her a lot. I was basically her only involved parent up until a few months ago. I'll miss her and I don't want her to think I'm abandoning her," Addison said.

"She seems to have a pretty stable life right now. It's probably not a bad time to move," Kathleen responded.

"We're moving. I don't need any convincing, I just need some time before we pick up and leave," Addison told them. Derek came back in the room.

"That was Scott Davis. He's now the chief of surgery at New York-Presbyterian and he wants me to be chief of neuro," Derek announced.

"What did you say?" Nancy asked excitedly.

"Did you tell him we are here?" Addison asked.

"Yes. I'm meeting with him in the morning," Derek said.

"That's great!" Kathleen said.

"You'd be Amelia's boss," Nancy stated matter-of-factly.

"That'll go over well," Derek said sarcastically.

"That is not a reason to not accept the job," Nancy lectured.

The next afternoon Derek walked into Nancy's house where Addison and Nancy were sitting in the kitchen chatting.

"How did it go?" Addison asked.

"Really well. He offered me the job. I liked it there." Derek said.

"It sounds like you're officially moving," Nancy said.

"There's only one problem," Derek stated.

"What?" Addison asked.

"I would have to start in a week," Derek said.

"You're moving in a week!" Nancy exclaimed.

"We're not moving in a week," Addison stated. "Derek can't do that to Richard. You could offer to split your time between here and Seattle for the first few weeks."

"I told him that I'm very interested but I need more than a week in Seattle," Derek told them. "We're going to talk in the morning."

"And we should probably talk to Richard when we get home tomorrow," Addison added.

**Thanks for reading! **


	14. Chapter 14

Day 1…..Derek pulled up in front of his mother's house in a moving van followed by Addison in the car with Grace. They both stepped out of the vehicles.

"We're home," Derek announced.

"We are," Addison replied happily as they kissed.

"How long before my sisters show up?" Derek asked.

"Three minutes," Addison guessed. She opened the back door of the car and took Grace out. They each grabbed a few bags and entered the house. A second later they heard car doors. "Told you."

"At least we have hands to help us move in," Derek said. They went outside where Nancy and Kathleen's families were there to greet them.

"You're finally back home!" Nancy said excited.

"Get back in the van. Let's move back to the woods." Derek said.

"Derek!" Nancy yelled.

"I'm kidding," Derek said, "but I did get used to my space in Seattle. Since you're all here, we have a moving van to unload."

"Did you bring everything? We haven't moved anything out of mom's house yet," Kathleen told them.

"We didn't bring much furniture besides baby stuff, it's really our stuff, clothes, toys, some kitchen things," Addison informed them. "We're going to need a much bigger truck when we move the rest of the house."

"How long until you go back?" Nancy asked.

"We have a week until we need to be back in Seattle. Derek's doing four days here three days there for a month. Grace and I are doing every other week for two months and then we're all here full-time," Addison explained.

"We are so excited to have you back," Nancy said.

"We know," Addison and Derek replied in unison.

Day 2…Addison was feeding Grace breakfast. Derek came in the kitchen and opened some cabinets.

"Do you know where a to go cup is?" Derek asked. Addison opened a cabinet and pulled one out for him.

"We have so many boxes to unpack," Addison commented.

"And maybe some rearranging," Derek added. He poured coffee into the cup. "I have to go. I'll see you tonight." He kissed her and walked towards the door as Nancy walked in. "Day 2 of unannounced guests."

"Good morning to you too," Nancy said.

"Goodbye," Derek said as he walked out the door.

"Since you're here, grab a box and unpack it," Addison said.

"I'm actually here for a different reason," Nancy said.

"What's that?" Addison asked.

"How would you like to work with me?" Nancy asked.

"You know I want some time to stay home with Grace, maybe in a few months," Addison said.

"We had someone quit unexpectedly. We need someone now. Even if you just did mornings or afternoons or a few days a week," Nancy said. "We have too many patients for me and Laura to handle."

"I'm still working in Seattle every other week," Addison said.

"I know. We can work around that," Nancy said. "We really need you like today. We could start taking on higher risk patients with you. You know you're going to miss practicing medicine if you just stay home. You'll still have plenty of time to see Grace."

"Alright I'll do it. Three days a week," Addison said.

"Fine," Nancy said.

"I start in two weeks," Addison argued.

"Okay," Nancy said.

"And I get to bring Grace and a babysitter to work sometimes," Addison said.

"We already have a playroom for our kids," Nancy informed her. "Now that we worked that out, I have half an hour to help with those boxes."

Day 4….Addison was cooking dinner while Grace played on the kitchen floor. Derek came home from work.

"Good evening my girls," Derek said kissing Addison and then Grace on the head.

"What time do you leave?" Addison asked.

"I have to be at the airport in an hour and a half," Derek answered.

"And the crazy bi-coastal two months begin," Addison announced.

"We'll survive and then we will get a lot of family time once we are all here forever," Derek said. Addison set dinner on the table.

"Family dinner before you leave?" Addison asked.

"Of course." Derek replied.

Day 5…Derek walked into Seattle Grace Hospital early in the morning.

"Dr. Shepherd. You're back!," Callie said.

"I am. For a few days," Derek replied.

"Can I get your help with a spine patient?" Callie asked.

"Sure. In a few minutes?" Derek asked.

"Take your time," Callie said. Mark walked up to him.

"How's your first day without your wife?" Mark asked.

"We're going to be lucky to survive the next two months," Derek said.

"It's going that well," Mark said sarcastically.

Day 6…Addison walked through Seattle Grace early in the morning. She walked up behind Derek.

"Hi stranger," She said. Derek turned around smiling.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked taking Grace from her.

"Well, this separate coasts thing isn't going to work for us. We're only six days into our two months and we missed you. I realized I don't have anywhere to be this week so why not be with you. We hopped on a plane and now we're here," Addison explained.

"I'm very happy you're here. I missed you both a lot. I have another surgery and then I'll be home in time for dinner?" Derek said.

"That sounds good to us," Addison replied.

"What are you going to do today?" Derek asked.

"We're going to see Lily," Addison informed him.

"She's going to be so happy," Derek said.

Later Addison rang the doorbell at Mark's house. Izzie opened the door surprised to see Addison and Grace there.

"I thought you were in New York," Izzie said.

"We decided we want to be in Seattle with Derek," Addison explained. Lily came running to the door at the sound of Addison's voice.

"I thought I was never going to see you again!" She exclaimed.

"Here I am," Addison said. She hugged Lily.

Day 7… Addison was still in bed while Derek was getting ready.

"I have to go babe," Derek said.

"Four days. We can do four days right?" Addison asked.

"We've made it through a lot lately, we can do four days," Derek confirmed.

Later Addison walked down the hallway with Callie and Bailey.

"Derek left this morning. I already miss him," Addison rambled.

"Is this all we are going to hear from the two of you until you're gone for good?" Callie asked. "Not that we are trying to get rid of you. We don't want you to leave." They approached the desk and heard Cristina, Meredith, and Alex talking.

"Who are we supposed to page for OB today?" Meredith asked.

"That would be me," Addison walking up behind them.

"Welcome back," Meredith said smiling.

Day 9 …. Addison called Derek and it went right to voicemail.

"I miss you. We didn't talk yesterday. Three weeks ago, we were barely talking, we need to try to make this work for the next 51 days. I miss seeing you at work. I miss working on cases with you. Call me. I love you," Addison said leaving Derek a message.

Day 10…The phone kept ringing in Derek's ear.

"_You've reached the voicemail of Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. Please leave a detailed message and I will get back to you as soon as possible," _Derek heard.

"Sorry I keep missing your calls. This job is a little more time consuming than I imagined. I'm committed to you though. We are going to make this work. Amelia and I fought at work today. I'm not sure how that is going to go. She needs to realize I'm her boss. Nancy's cooking me dinner tonight. Call me back. I'll answer as long as I'm not in surgery. I love you," Derek told Addison through her voicemail.

Addison tried calling Derek back a little later, but got his voicemail.

"Hey. So apparently the communication in our marriage these days is through voicemail. That could work, right? We're three hours later than you so we will still be up for a while and we can't wait to see you tomorrow. Call us. Love you," Addison said leaving a quick message on her way to get Grace from daycare.

Day 11… Derek walked through the hospital with his bags. He passed Callie in the hallway.

"How's New York?" Callie asked.

"Great. Have you seen Addison?" Derek asked.

"Not lately," Callie replied as Derek walked away. He continued walking the halls.

"Addison?" Derek asked Mark.

"What? No hi, how's it going, haven't seen you in a week?" Mark asked.

"I haven't spoken with my wife in four days," Derek said.

"I haven't seen her since this morning," Mark replied. Derek walked away and passed Izzie.

"Are you working with Addie?" Derek asked.

"Yup. She just went to her office," Izzie informed him. Derek practically ran there and greeted Addison with a long kiss.

"I missed you too," Addison said.

"We didn't actually talk in four days," Derek stated.

"I am aware," Addison said.

"We have seven days together now," Derek told her.

"We do?!" Addison asked surprised.

"Yes we do. We all fly back to New York together Sunday and then I'll go back to Seattle on Thursday. That gives us a whole week together," Derek said.

"Are we crazy?" Addison asked.

"I think so." Derek replied.

Day 13… Addison answered the door. Mark, Izzie, Lily, and Nathan were standing there.

"Hey," Lily said walking right past Addison and into the playroom to see Grace.

"You are getting to be such a big boy," Addison said to Nathan, taking him from Izzie. "Come in." Addison closed the door.

"We wanted to spend some time with you guys before you leave for New York again," Izzie said.

"You are welcome to spend the whole day with us," Addison replied smiling. "We're going to miss you when we actually leave," she said looking at Nathan. They all sat down in the playroom and watched the kids play together.

"Did Addison tell you she starts working with Nancy on Monday?" Derek asked.

"No. That is going to be one high strung practice," Mark said.

"I'm hoping it keeps the unexpected visitors down," Derek told him.

"Yeah like that's ever going to happen. You chose to move back there. Into a house that all of your sisters have a key to," Mark added.

"Oh god. I didn't even think of that," Derek said.

"You love it," Addison said. "And it will all die down once it's not new anymore."

"It's good for Grace," Derek said.

Day 14…Addison and Derek were both putting clothes in suitcases.

"Can you believe we are actually travelling in the same direction on the same day?" Addison asked excited.

"We're having a good week," Derek replied.

"We're having a great week," Addison said kissing him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for the reviews! **

Day 15….Addison was in the bathroom getting ready when Derek came in.

"I'm leaving," he informed her.

"No. No. No. You're supposed to have the day off. It's my first day of work and we don't have a babysitter yet," Addison said.

"I told you I couldn't get today off, but I have tomorrow off," Derek explained.

"I can't call out on my first day," Addison argued.

"That's the beauty of being in New York. We have family. I'll call around," Derek said. Derek left and came back a few minutes later.

"Anna's going to watch her for the morning, but then has to take Joseph to an appointment so she will drop her off at Kathleen's. Colleen only has a half day of school so she's going to watch Grace for the afternoon and then Kathleen will be home around 3 and watch her for the rest of the day," Derek said.

"Sounds complicated but I'm happy with the plan," Addison told him.

"Good. If I leave now I can drop her off on my way and you pick her up?" Derek asked.

"Sure," Addison replied.

Addison entered Nancy's practice.

"Good morning favorite sister-in-law," Nancy greeted her. "Are you ready for a busy day?"

"I've never worked in a practice before," Addison said.

"You're in for a treat," Nancy told her. "It's an easy day compared to a day of surgery, but sometimes it feels like chaos with all the people coming in and out. Is Derek home with Grace?"

"No. He told me he was off today, but he swears he never said that," Addison said kind of annoyed.

"Who has Grace?" Nancy asked.

"Anna, then Colleen, then Kathleen," Addison said.

"You won't have to stay later than Kathleen gets home from work," Nancy said.

"She's getting home early today," Addison said.

"Let me give you the tour, then we can start seeing patients, and maybe we can get out of here early," Nancy suggested.

Later…Kathleen held Grace on her hip as she opened the front door.

"I bet it's your mama," Kathleen said to Grace. Addison was standing on the other side.

"Mama!" Grace squealed.

"Hi baby!" Addison exclaimed as she took her from Kathleen. A group of kids ran by. "Are you running a daycare here?"

"It seems like it, doesn't it?" Kathleen said. "I ended up with all of mine, all of Nancy's, two of Anna's, and Grace. Oh and mom should probably be included in that number today."

"You could have told Derek no this morning," Addison said.

"Oh it's no big deal. What's one more? Besides this morning, I didn't know that Nancy's kids were going to end up coming over. She just found out that they're here," Kathleen explained. "You're staying for dinner."

"No Grace and I will get out of your way," Addison said.

"I wasn't asking. I cooked for everyone. Nancy and Anna will be here soon. I told Derek and Amelia, but I doubt they'll get here in time," Kathleen said. "Come in. Sit down. Relax."

"You are amazing," Addison told her smiling. "This is why we moved home."

Day 17….Derek walked into the house from work.

"I'm home," he yelled. "I brought a visitor." Addison met them in the foyer.

"Hi," Kaitlyn said.

"Hi sweetheart," Addison replied, hugging her. "We've missed you!"

"I'm so glad you live close enough that I can just come over after school on a random day," Kaitlyn said.

"I'm glad too," Addison responded.

"Where's Grace?" Kaitlyn asked.

"In her bed. You can go get her. She just woke up," Addison told her. Kaitlyn ran upstairs and found Grace standing in the crib.

"Hi Gracie!" Kaitlyn said lifting her out of the crib.

"Kaity!" Grace said excited to see her.

"I missed you," Kaitlyn told her.

They all sat down to eat dinner together.

"Are you happy you went to school in New York after all?" Addison asked Kaitlyn.

"Yes. I love it. Even if you and Derek weren't here, I would still be happy that I picked this coast," Kaitlyn told her.

"Are you enjoying your classes?" Derek asked.

"As much as you can enjoy general chemistry, introduction to biology, and calculus," Kaitlyn said.

"You did pick those classes," Derek said.

"I like them," Kaitlyn replied. "Fun is just not a word I would use to describe them."

"I'm sure you get to have fun outside of class," Addison said.

"Yup. Will is coming to visit this weekend," Kaitlyn announced.

"Where is he sleeping?" Derek asked.

"In my room," Kaitlyn said with a little bit of an attitude.

"Just please remember if you are going to do anything sexually, and I'm not trying to give you ideas, that you need to be safe, use condoms," Addison lectured.

"Addie," Kaitlyn whined trying to end the conversation.

"You know I'm right and we have caught you doing things in the past that warrant a conversation like this," Addison defended herself.

"I'll be fine. I promise," Kaitlyn told her.

"I just love you and care about you," Addison said.

"I know," Kaitlyn responded. Her quick response made Addison happy, they had worked hard on their relationship.

Day 18…Derek woke up Addison and kissed her.

"I have to go," Derek said softly, "I'll see you in three days."

"Day 18, right? I can't wait for this to be over," Addison told him.

"I only have ten more days of travelling and then after that you only have two more weeks in Seattle," Derek recalled their schedule.

"We can do it," Addison said.

"We can," Derek confirmed.

Day 21….Addison and Grace entered their house in Seattle.

"Hey you're here," Derek said greeting them. "I have two hours before I have to leave, what should we do?"

"I can't believe we are travelling in opposite directions today," Addison said.

"At least we get to spend two hours together," Derek said.

"And you only have seven more days of bi-coastal living," Addison told him.

Day 25…Addison picked Lily up from Mark and Izzie.

"When are you bringing her back?" Mark asked.

"Derek only has three more days in Seattle so we thought we could keep her for at least 2 of the 3," Addison explained.

"Go for it. Have fun," Mark said.

"Yay, I get to spend two nights!" Lily shrieked.

Addison and Derek walked into their house with Lily and Grace.

"Lily, what do you want to do with your two nights here?" Addison asked. "You know it's the last time Derek will be in Seattle for a little while."

"Well, I want to watch a movie, and play Candyland, and bake cookies. Oh Derek needs to make me cereal in the morning because he does it the best. I need to play with Grace. And I need to play with all of my toys here," Lily ranted.

"We need to talk about your toys here," Addison said interrupting her rant. "You know that Derek, Grace, and I are moving to New York, right?"

"Right," Lily said.

"You won't be able to see us as much as you do now so you need to decide if you want to take all of your toys and stuff to your dad's house or if you want me to pack them up and take them to New York. You can have some stuff in our house in New York if you want to, but you won't see it that much," Addison explained.

"Maybe I can take some to my dad's house and you can take some with you," Lily suggested.

"That's a good idea," Addison said.

"Let's get packing!" Lily exclaimed.

"We don't have to pack yet," Addison told her. "Let's work on the movie, Candyland, and cookies."

"Okay!" Lily said as she skipped off to the playroom.

Day 27….Derek and Addison walked into the conference room at the hospital. The chief asked to meet with them at the end of Derek's last day. They weren't expecting to be greeted by a room full of their best friends and co-workers from Seattle.

"I know we still have two weeks left with Addison, but we everyone wanted to get together to say goodbye and good luck to both of you. You have brought so much to this hospital over the last few years. You have served as wonderful teachers and mentors to so many people in this hospital. You will be missed. Good luck with your move to New York and your new jobs. And don't forget to visit us," Richard said. "Let's all raise our glasses of sparkling grape juice and wish Derek and Addie luck." Everyone laughed when he said grape juice and joined him in toasting to the Shepherds.

Day 28….Addison and Derek landed in New York.

"Day 28. That was my last flight of this insane weekly travel for work," Derek said.

"Wait what day is it?" Addison asked.

"Day 28? Or October 11th? Or Monday?" Derek asked.

"I haven't had my period at all since we moved to New York," Addison said.

"You could get it soon," Derek said.

"I haven't had it since before Labor day," Addison told him.

"Are you saying you're pregnant?" Derek asked.

"I'm saying I at least need to take a pregnancy test," Addison told him happily.

**I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you liked/didn't like/want to see more of. I need some inspiration to make it better.**


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